25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
Commentary
Vs. 25 “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Even though Paul and Silas had been unjustly arrested and severely beaten by the authorities, and now they were been held in stocks in the most deplorable of conditions and places in the prison, they were not discouraged or disgruntled, no they were rejoicing! Praying and singing hymns to God because they knew they were being so wrongly treated for their faith in and faithfully testifying to the Lord Jesus Christ. For you can mistreat, persecute, and even imprison a man, but you cannot imprison his heart and soul! Now as they were doing so the other prisoners were listening to them, hearing and experiencing through them the salvation and solace that only God provides.
Vs. 26 “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”
God Himself then upon hearing His servants praising Him, and having many more plans for them, will not allow the schemes of man to prevail against them. Shaken then the very foundations of the prison where they were being unjustly held so as to release them, and not only them, but all who heard them! For that is the Power of God and the Will of God through the Gospel, to set captives free! Free from sin and Satan and from every evil chain and bondage of this unjust and evil world (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:16-21). And even though all the prisoner’s chains were loosed, as we will see they all remained where they were, because through Paul and Silas proclaiming the praises of God, they had found peace and solace for their souls.
Vs. 27-28 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
Now when this earthquake shook the prison and loosened all of the prisoners chains the keeper of this prison was awakened, and seeing the prison doors opened, and supposing all the prisoners had fled, he drew his sword to kill himself, because he knew the torturous Roman punishment unto death, he would have to endure for losing them. Thankfully though Paul perceiving what was about to happen, called out to him with a loud voice saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
Vs. 29-31 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Now when the keeper of the prison heard Paul say that, he immediately called for a light and ran in to the inner prison and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas (vs. 29), and bringing them out from that horrible dark place, and being now humbled and beyond words grateful for the mercy Paul just showed him, he asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Which can garner only one replay and that is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Vs. 31 Thus not only would he be saved by the grace of God if he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but so would those of his household if they did likewise!
Vs. 32-33 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Having then declared the way of salvation, Paul and Silas now preach the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house (vs. 32). Having then believed, both he and his household, the Jailer now washed their strips, that is their wounds, and both he and his household were baptized that same night by them (vs. 33). And that is the pattern of the N.T. upon one’s declaration of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ they were (and are to be) baptized in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Only when circumstances do not allow for such, should there then be any delay. And so, each individual who believes should be baptized when they can be.
Vs. 34 “Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”
The Jailer then having believed in God is now not only eternally grateful and rejoicing, but he no longer saw Paul and Silas as prisoners who were only worthy of mistreatment and contempt, for he now saw them as beloved brethren, and so he brought them into his own home and set food before them, which again like his washing their strips before they baptized him shows the transformation that God undertook in him with his believing in His Son.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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