NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 52
A cts 1 6 : 2 7
2008
the doors immediately flew open, and the
chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer
woke up to see the prison doors wide open.
He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so
he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul
shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We
are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and ran to
the dungeon and fell down trembling before
Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out
and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the y Lord Jesus
and you will be saved, along with everyone
in your household.” 32 And they shared the
word of the Lord with him and with all who
lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour
of the night, the jailer cared for them and
washed their wounds. Then he and every
one in his household were immediately
baptized. 34 He brought them into his house
and set a meal before them, and he and his
entire household rejoiced because they all
believed in God.
35 The next morning the city officials sent
the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men
go!” 36 So the jailer told Paul, “The city offi
cials have said you and Silas are free to leave.
Go in peace.”
37 But Paul replied, “They have publicly
beaten us without a trial and put us in
prison—and we are Roman citizens. So now
they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not!
Let them come themselves to release us!”
38 When the police reported this, the city
officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and
Silas were Roman citizens. 39 So they came
to the jail and apologized to them. Then
they brought them out and begged them to
leave the city. 40 When Paul and Silas left the
prison, they returned to the home of Lydia.
There they met with the believers and en
couraged them once more. Then they left
town.
Paul Preaches in Thessalonica
Paul and Silas then traveled through
the towns of Amphipolis and Apollo
nia and came to Thessalonica, where there
was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s
custom, he went to the synagogue service,
and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the
Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He
explained the prophecies and proved that
the Messiah must suffer and rise from the
dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you
about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews
who listened were persuaded and joined
Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing
Greek men and quite a few prominent
women.*
5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so
they gathered some troublemakers from the
marketplace to form a mob and start a riot.
17
16:27
Acts 12:1819
16:30
Acts 2:37
16:31
John 3:15
Acts 11:14
y kurios (2962)
Eph
6:5
16:37
Acts 22:25
16:38
Acts 22:29
16:39
Matt 8:34
16:40
Acts 16:14
17:19
1 Thes 1:1; 2:12
2 Thes 1:1
17:2
Acts 9:20; 13:14;
17:10, 17
17:3
Luke 24:26
Acts 3:18; 9:22; 18:5
17:5
Rom 16:21
1 Thes 2:14
17:4 Some manuscripts read quite a few of the wives of the leading men.
16:2736 Luke’s third portrait in
Philippi is of the Philippian jailer
who, shaken by what had happened,
responded in faith when challenged
to accept the Lord Jesus and be saved.
He was baptized with his household
and rejoiced in his newfound faith as
he reached out with hospitality to the
preachers.
16:27 The Roman jailer clearly knew
that his life could be forfeited if the
prisoners for whom he was responsible
escaped. This was standard practice
(12:19; 27:42; cp. Code of Justinian
9.4.4).
16:2930 Paul and Silas had impressed
the jailer with their cheerful faith
(16:25), their composure in crisis, and
their concern for his well-being (16:28).
Whatever the jailer’s previous under
standing of Paul’s message, God touched
his heart, and he cried out for divine
help.
16:3134 Paul and Silas directed the
jailer to a faith in Christ that brings
blessing both to him and his family.
The whole household received Christian
instruction, and their response was
expressed in baptism (see “Baptism,”
T H E P E N TAT E U C H
2:38, 41) and the offering of hospitality
to Paul and Silas.
16:3739 Paul and Silas were both
Roman citizens, so the beating and
imprisonment (16:2224) had been
illegal. After the city officials learned
of this, they were justifiably alarmed
because they had committed a crime
against Rome. • Let them come themselves to release us: Paul made use of
his rights as a Roman citizen in order
to clear his name and ensure that no
disrepute would attach to the Christian
message or those who accepted it.
Luke intended to show that Christianity
should enjoy the same status as Judaism
in the Roman empire as a permitted
religion—the Christian faith was com
patible with the life of a Roman citizen.
Accordingly, it was important to note
that Paul made use of his rights as a
Roman citizen (cp. 22:2527) and was
ready to use the privileges of citizen
ship to advance the cause of Christ in a
hostile world.
16:40 This meeting in the home of Lydia
bolstered the spirits of the Philippian
Christians who had to deal with the fall
out from the missionaries’ work there.
ISRAEL’S HISTORY
17:19 After traveling through Mace
donia to Thessalonica, Paul preached
to the Jews first (Rom 1:16) in the syna
gogue. Here, as elsewhere, there was a
mixed response.
17:13 Amphipolis was a Roman mili
tary post located on the Egnatian Way
in the northeastern part of Macedonia.
• Apollonia, named after the Greek god
Apollo, was also situated on the Egna
tian Way. • Thessalonica offered a start
ing point for ministry because it had a
Jewish synagogue (see note on 9:2). Paul
was able to preach for three consecutive
Sabbaths, explaining the Scriptures and
showing their fulfillment in Jesus.
17:4 God-fearing Greek men: See note
on 10:2. • Luke regularly draws atten
tion to women who joined the Christian
movement (17:4, 12, 34; see also 5:14;
8:12; 16:1315, 3134; 18:26; 21:9).
17:57 Once again, the enemies of the
Christian faith saw it as a disruptive
threat (cp. 16:1921). Ironically, they
gathered some troublemakers and
then accused Paul and Silas of causing
trouble by disturbing the peace and
committing treason against Caesar—
serious charges of threatening the stabil
ity of the empire (cp. Luke 23:2).
POETRY & WISDOM
