From: Acts 16:22-34
Imprisonment of Paul and Silas
[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,
charging the jailer to keep them safely. [24] Having received this
charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in
the stocks.
The Baptism of the Jailer
[25] But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns
to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, [26] and suddenly
there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison
were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's
fetters were unfastened. [27] When the jailer woke and saw that the
prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill
himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. [28] But Paul cried
with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."
[29] And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he
fell down before Paul and Silas, [30] and brought them out and said,
"Men, what must I do to be saved?" [31] And they said, "Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." [32] And
they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his
house. [33] And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed
their wounds, and he was baptized at once with all his family.
[34] Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them;
and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.
Commentary:
19-40. This is the first time St Paul comes into conflict with
Gentiles. As might be expected, the incident does not take the form of
a riot, as happened in cities of Asia Minor (13:50; 14:5, l9), but
of a civil suit before local magistrates. The people who bring the
charge say nothing about their real reason--loss of profit. They accuse
Paul of two things. Their first charge is disturbance of the peace. The
second seems to be based on regulations forbidding Roman citizens to
practise alien cults, especially where these conflict with Roman
custom. They see Paul's exorcism and his preaching as an attempt to
propagate what they see as an unacceptable religion. It may well be
that the charge also had to do with specific prohibitions on the
propagation of Judaism to non-Jews. However, there is no hard evidence
that any such prohibition existed; therefore, the charge against Paul
must have been based on regulations in the colony separating Roman from
alien religious practices.
23. St Paul refers specifically to this punishment in 1 Thess 2:2. It
was one of the three beatings mentioned in 2 Cor 11:25.
24. St John Chrysostom, reflecting on the punishment Paul and Silas
underwent, sees them as sitting or lying on the ground, covered with
wounds caused by the beating. He contrasts this suffering with the way
many people avoid anything which involves effort, discomfort or
suffering: "How we should weep over the disorders of our time! The
apostles were subjected to the worst kinds of tribulation, and here we
are, spending our time in search of pleasure and diversion. This
pursuit of leisure and pleasure is the cause of our ruin. We do not see
the value of suffering even the least injury or insult for love of
Jesus Christ.
"Let us remember the tribulations the saints experienced; nothing
alarmed them or scared them. Severe humiliations made them tough,
enabled them to do God's work. They did not say, if we are preaching
Jesus Christ, why does he not come to our rescue?" ("Hom. on Acts",
35).
25. Paul and Silas spend the night praying and singing hymns.
Commenting on this passage St John Chrysostom exhorts Christians to do
the same and to sanctify night-time rest: "Show by your example that
the night-time is not just for recovering the strength of your body: it
is also a help in sanctifying your soul. [...] You do not have to say
long prayers; one prayer, said well, is enough. [...] Offer God this
sacrifice of a moment of prayer and he will reward you" ("Hom. on
Acts", 36).
St Bede notes the example Paul and Silas give Christians who are
experiencing trials or temptations: "The piety and energy which fires
the heart of the apostles expresses itself in prayer and brings them to
sing hymns even in prison. Their praise causes the earth to move, the
foundations to quake, the doors to open and even their fetters to
break. Similarly, that Christian who rejoices when he is happy, let him
rejoice also in his weakness, when he is tempted, so that Christ's
strength come to his aid. And then let him praise the Lord with hymns,
as Paul and Silas did in the darkness of their prison, and sing with
the psalmist, 'Thou does encompass me with deliverance' (Ps 32:7)" (St
Bede, "Super Act Expositio, ad loc.").
30-34. This incident so affects the jailer with religious awe that he
comes to be converted. He has been helped to react in this way as a
result of listening to the prayers and hymns of the apostles: "Notice
how the jailer reveres the apostles. He opens his heart to them, when
he sees the doors of the prison open.
He lights the way further with his torch, but it is another kind of
torch that lights up his soul. [...] Then he cleans their wounds, and
his soul is cleansed from the filth of sin. On offering them material
food, he receives in return a heavenly one. [...] His docility shows
that he sincerely believed that all his sins had been forgiven"
(Chrysostom, "Hom. on Acts", 36).
A person can meet up with God in all kinds of unexpected situations--in
which case he or she needs to have the same kind of docility as the
jailer in order to receive the grace of God through the channels which
God has established, normally the sacraments.
33. As happened with Lydia and her family, the jailer's household is
baptized along with him. Noting that these families probably included
children and infants, the Magisterium of the Church finds support here
for its teaching that baptism of children is a practice which goes
right back to apostolic times and is, as St Augustine says, "a
tradition received from the Apostles" (cf. "Instruction on Infant
Baptism", 20 October 1980, 4).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
From: John 16:5-11:
The Action of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [5] "But now I am going to Him who sent
Me; yet none of you asks Me, `Where are You going?' [6] But because I
have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
[7] Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I
go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send Him to you. [8] And when He comes, He will
convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: [9] of
sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] of righteousness, because I
go to the Father, and you will see Me no more; [11] of judgment, because
the ruler of this world is judged."
Commentary:
6-7. The thought that He is going to leave them saddens the Apostles,
and our Lord consoles them with the promise of the Paraclete, the
Consoler. Later (verses 20ff), He assures them that their sadness will
turn into joy which no one can take away from them.
Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit three times during the discourse of
the Last Supper. The first time (14:15ff), He says that another
Paraclete (advocate, consoler) will come, sent by the Father, to be
with them forever; secondly, He says (14:26) that He Himself will send
them, on behalf of the Father, the Spirit of truth who will teach them
everything; and now He unfolds for them the complete plan of salvation
and announces that the Holy Spirit will be sent once He ascends into
Heaven.
8-12. The word "world" here means all those who have not believed in
Christ and have rejected Him. These the Holy Spirit will accuse of sin
because of their unbelief. He will accuse them of unrighteousness
because He will show that Jesus was the Just One who was never guilty
of sin (cf. John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15) and therefore is in glory beside
His Father. And, finally, He will indict them by demonstrating that
the devil, the prince of the world, has been overthrown through the
death of Christ, which rescues man from the power of the Evil One and
gives him grace to avoid the snares he lays.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reading I