ACC ~ Acts 16 v25 - 34

OVERVIEW:

Modern commentators draw attention to a shift in language here, and some imply that since it is idyllic and akin to folklore, its historicity is questionable. Others note, however, that the way a story is told is not a measure of its truth. Nearly all highlight the parallels between Peter and Paul: As an angel set Peter free (Acts 12:6-11), so now an earthquake delivers Paul. Where Peter confounded a Samaritan magician (Acts 8:9-24), Paul rebukes a Greco-Roman soothsayer. The imprisonment of Paul and Silas offers the Fathers an example for exhorting and inspiring their listeners. Being in prison does not lead the apostles to despair, but they use God’s word to praise God and give us an example for our own trials (AMMONIUS, SEVERUS, BEDE). Chrysostom shines a light on the difference between the experience of the apostles, their sufferings and pain, and that of most people in order to prompt his audience to a greater awareness of the formers’ virtue. At the same time, Chrysostom pays close attention to the nature of the event. He sees God’s providential hand in their vigil, which he contrasts with Peter’s sleep in Acts 12: Paul and Silas needed to be awake, not just to exhort us to keep vigil but to prevent the jailer’s suicide. The power of Christ in weakness is evident in this event in its transformation of the powerful into the powerless, of the powerless into the powerful, of the prisoners into liberators, of the means of imprisonment into means of salvation (CHRYSOSTOM). Chrysostom, however, sees the event as narrowly focused and only benefiting the jailer, and he makes much of the time of the event to support this perspective. Ammonius reflects on the unconverted fellow prisoners of Paul and Silas, and on the event as a whole, quite differently. For Ammonius, the unconverted had the opportunity to come to faith but, for whatever reason, chose not to. He draws parallels between the apostles’ imprisonment, with its display of power intended to free all, both jailer and prisoners, to Christ’s imprisonment in hell that was intended to free its captives, only some of whom came to Christ, while others, for whatever reason, stayed away. Chrysostom notes how some, in his day, would see in this passage a reason for staying away from Christ, namely, that those here converted are of the lower classes. Using this prejudice, Chrysostom argues for these as a source of credibility for the faith and, in a twist on Paul’s idea that God chose the weak of this world to shame the strong, makes their believing a greater means of persuasion than the belief of the upper classes.

16:25 | Praying and Singing

AS THE PSALMIST DID. AMMONIUS: They followed the psalmist, who says, “At midnight I will rise to confess to you.” CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.25.

OFFERING THE SACRIFICES OF PRAISE. SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH: You see, the holy Scripture clearly states that they sang hymns, not only in their hearts but also in order to be heard, as is written in the Psalms: “With my voice I cried to the Lord, with my voice I was in need before God.” After the great fame of their actions it was necessary to offer the sacrifices of praise for everything to God, that is, “the fruit of the lips, which confess his name,” as Paul says. David expresses the same saying, “By praising I invoke the Lord, and I will be saved from my enemies.” CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.25.

FROM THE DEPTHS THEY SANG OUT. BEDE: The devotion of the apostles’ hearts and the power of prayer are expressed [here] together, since in the depths of the prison they sang hymns, and their praise moved the earth of the prison, shook the foundation, opened the doors and finally loosened the very chains of those who had been bound. In other words, anyone of the faithful “considers it all joy when he falls into various trials.” “And he gladly glories in his infirmities, so that the power of Christ may dwell in him.” Such a one undoubtedly sings hymns with Paul and Silas within the darkness of the prison, and with the psalmist he recites to the Lord, “You are my refuge from the distress which surrounds me, my exaltation.” COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.25.

SPURRED BY ADVERSITY. CHRYSOSTOM: Who is equal to these souls? After being whipped they received numerous blows and underwent insults and extreme dangers. While fastened in stocks in the innermost cell, they stayed awake not wanting to fall asleep. Do you see how great the affliction of the righteous is? We sleep in soft beds without any fear throughout the night. Maybe they stayed awake because they were in this state. The tyrant sleep did not catch them, pain did not bend them, fear did not make them dispirited, but these things spurred them on even more. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.25.

A SAVING VIGIL. CHRYSOSTOM: Let us set against that night these nights of revelry, drunkenness and wanton excesses, when sleep is no different from death and sleeplessness worse than sleep. For while some people sleep without sense or feeling, others lie awake to pitiful and wretched purpose, weaving treacherous plots, scheming for money, struggling to ward off those who wrong them, nursing hatred, counting up words of abuse spoken during the day. Thus they stoke the fire of their wrath, working up unbearable things. Look how Peter slept. It was part of the divine plan. For the angel came to him and it was necessary that no one should see what happened. Likewise here, it was well that Paul was awake: he prevented the jailer from killing himself. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 36.

16:26 | All the Doors Were Opened

ONLY MIRACLES THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. CHRYSOSTOM: And why did no other miracle take place? Because this especially was enough to convert him and make him believe, since he himself would have been in danger, if this had not happened. For it is not so much miracles that convince us as things that come to our salvation. Lest the earthquake should seem to have occurred of its own accord, this follows and bears witness to it. And it appeared at night; for the apostles did not work for display but for people’s salvation. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 36.

A GOD OF REVERSALS. CHRYSOSTOM: The prison shook to disrupt the mindset of the faithless, to set the prison guard free and to proclaim the word of God. … You see how the nature of shackles destroys the shackles, for just as the death of the Lord put death to death, so also the shackles of Paul set the captives free, shook the prison, opened the doors. And yet this is not the nature of shackles, but they do the opposite—they hold the prisoner in security, they do not open up the walls for him. But while the simple nature of shackles is not this, the nature of these shackles is such because of Christ. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.26-28.

16:28 | Do Not Harm Yourself

A REASONABLE TIME. CHRYSOSTOM: For whom did that event happen at midnight? And for whom was it accompanied by an earthquake? Listen to God’s dispensation and be filled with wonder! The chains were loosed and the doors opened. But this event happened for the jailer alone. It was not for show but salvation. That the prisoners did not know they were freed is clear from what Paul says … , “He cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’” They would not have stayed within if they had known that the doors had been opened and they had been freed. Those who break through walls, leap over roofs and eaves and dare anything even when they are bound would have not tolerated staying when their chains had been loosed and the doors had been opened and the jailer sleeping. … And the imprisoned are usually bound during the night, and not during the day. With much care, therefore, he was able to see them carefully bound again and sleeping. If these things had been done during the day, there would have been a big riot. Why was the prison shaken by the earthquake? In order that the jailer might get up to see that spectacle: only he was worthy of salvation. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.25.

16:29 | The Jailer Fell Down Before Paul and Silas

THE REFUSAL TO BELIEVE. AMMONIUS: From this event it can be established that the faith of people is something in their power. See how, after such a fright, only the jailer believed. And yet, most of all, those imprisoned should have been moved to believe, since they had experienced a greater wonder when they saw their iron chains suddenly broken. Being foolish, they were frightened at the moment when the foundations of the prison were shaken and the doors were opened. But being despisers of God, after such a sign, they forgot what had happened, so that they did not speak to the jailer or to anyone about the terror that had happened. For, no doubt, had they heard from the jailer or from the followers of Paul the reason for such a wonder, they would perhaps have been converted. I think that a similar event happened in hell, when our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, descended there tasting death for a brief time. The foundations of the earth were shaken and the chains of all were loosed. Whoever went to meet the Savior and believed in him was saved like the jailer and his house. Whoever rejected him and did not endeavor to investigate the strange miracle stayed in hell. Just as those who followed Paul, after the chains were loosed, came out of the prison in the morning, so Christ, coming back from hell in the dark of earliest morning and having been freed—as it was not fitting for him, being God, to be held by death—arose, and in the first place appeared to his faithful disciples and the women around Mary, and comforted them and confirmed them in faith by saying, “Take heart.” He was then assumed into heaven, where he remains with God his Father. Likewise, the followers of Silas, who came out of the prison, visited Lydia and the brothers and departed. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.29-30.

16:30 | What Must I Do to Be Saved?

THEY OPEN THE DOORS OF HIS HEART. CHRYSOSTOM: Observe, he did not respond because he had been saved, but because he was astonished by their virtue. Do you see what happened in the earlier case and what happened here? Earlier a girl was released from a spirit and they threw them in jail, because they had freed her from the demon. Here they only showed him the doors opened, and it opened the doors of his heart, loosened the double chains and kindled the light. For the light in his heart was bright. “And he rushed in and fell before them,” and he did not ask, “How did this happen? What happened?” Instead, right away he says, “What must I do to be saved?” And what does Paul answer? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” he says, “you and your household.” This especially draws men, that their household too will be saved. “And they spoke the word to him and to all that were in his house.” He washed them and was washed. He washed their wounds; he himself was washed of his sins. He fed and was fed. “And he rejoiced,” it says. And yet it was nothing but words alone and good hope. This was a sign of his having believed, that he was released from all. What is worse than a jailer? What more savage, more ruthless? Nevertheless it was with great honor that [the jailer] received them. It was not when he was saved that he rejoiced but when “he had believed in God.” HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 36.

16:33 | Baptized at Once

NOT THE POWERFUL. CHRYSOSTOM: Let us remember the jailer throughout, not the miracle. What do the Gentiles say? How did he, a prisoner, persuade his jailer? And the man who had to be persuaded, what was he but defiled, wretched, of no understanding, full of ten thousand ills and easily led? Still more, the Gentiles claim this as well. For who, except a tanner, a seller of purple, a eunuch, a jailer, slaves and women, believed? What will they be able to say when we produce also men of rank and station, the centurion, the proconsul, those from that time to the present, the rulers themselves, the emperors? But for my part, I speak of something else, something greater than this. Let us take a look at these lowly people. “And what is the wonder?” you ask. It is this. For if someone is persuaded of any old thing, it is no wonder. But when he speaks to lowly people about resurrection, about the kingdom of heaven and about a life of devotion, and he persuades them, it is more wonderful than if he persuades wise people. For if there is no danger and someone persuades them, it is justifiable to point to a lack of understanding. But when he speaks to the slave, “If you are persuaded by me, you do so at your own peril. You will have all people for enemies; you must die and suffer ten thousand wrongs,” if even so he wins that person’s soul, it is no longer due to a lack of understanding. For if the doctrines had contained pleasure, it would be possible to say so. But if, what the philosophers would not have chosen to learn, this the slave learns, greater is the wonder. If you please, let us bring before us the tanner himself and review the words Peter spoke to him. Or, if you would rather, let us look at this jailer. What did Paul say to him? “Christ is risen,” “there is a resurrection of the dead,” “there is a kingdom.” And he easily persuaded one who was easily led. What then? Did he speak nothing of life, that he must be temperate, that he must be superior to money, that he must not be cruel, that he must give his goods to others? Indeed, being persuaded of these things was not indicative of a deficit in understanding but of a truly great soul. Let it be that, as far as the doctrines are concerned, it is because of their lack of understanding that they are more apt to accept them. But to accept such a life of true devotion, what sort of a deficit in understanding is that? HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 36.

HIS SINS WERE WASHED AWAY. BEDE: A beautiful exchange—for them he washed the wounds from their blows, and through them he was relieved of the wounds of his own guilty acts. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 16.33.