19 But when her
owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had
brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are
disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as
Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the
magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into
prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order,
he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. (Acts
16:18-24 (ESV)
Some days it feels like you can’t win for losing, but that
is exactly what happens with Paul and Silas. Luke is conspicuously absent from
this whole debacle. In any case, no sooner do the owners of the slave girl
realize that they will no longer be able
to profit off of this slave girl, at least not in the same manner, and they
seize Paul and Silas accuse them before the magistrates and incite a riot in
the name of public order and peace. There wasn’t much of a trial. It was
assumed Paul and Silas were guilty, and they
were beaten with rods and thrown in prison before they could even appeal
to their Roman citizenship, which would have poked large holes in the theory that Romans could not accept or practice the
customs Paul and Silas were advocating. It is said the whole crowd joins in
attacking them. To this day the gospel inspires such violence against those who
preach it. The magistrates intervene and throw them in prison, it seems that at
least partially they do this for the safety of Paul and Silas. The last thing
magistrates wanted was rioting. Riots called for soldiers. A city that rioted
put itself at odds with the Roman government. Serious odds. The magistrates
would have to pay, and in turn the citizens would have to pay. And the payment
could be quite severe. At the end of the day they find themselves in prison and
it will be here that they find wonderful opportunity for the gospel. God works
all things for good for those who love him. But more on that tomorrow, there is
too much in the conversion of the jailer to go into here.
No comments:
Post a Comment