Acts 16:19-24

Macedonia, part 3

 

    When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

 

    The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 

What else did God have in store for Paul and his companions there in Macedonia? They had led Lydia and her household to the Lord. They had freed a slave girl from her spiritual oppression. Surely they would be highly respected as people realized that the hand of God was on their ministry! Surely the Philippians would now listen carefully to the gospel message!

 

Actually, no. Rather than being greeted as the representatives of Jesus Christ, the great liberator, Paul and Barnabas found themselves dragged before the authorities, beaten, and thrown into the deepest part of the prison, their feet in stocks.

 

The nations often do not appreciate Jesus Christ’s servant-liberators. People like things the way they are. The slave girl’s owners liked making money, for instance, more than they cared about the slave girl. Had the girl been one of their daughters, these men would probably have been thrilled to see her set free from an evil spirit. But this girl was “just” a slave. All that mattered to them was the money she brought them. As Christians, we have to understand that freeing people to serve Jesus Christ is offensive to other people – to people who benefit from the sinful, cursed way things are.

 

Such people will be angry. Angry enough to hurt us, Jesus’ servants. Ironically, in this case the liberators were thrown in prison.

 

Father, people around us don’t get it. They don’t understand Your power. They don’t understand Your love for everyone, Your desire for men and women all over the world to be free to serve You. They don’t realize that You are able to free people from all kinds of oppression – demonic/spiritual oppression, man-made slavery, man-made imprisonment. But You are the great liberator, and You care for Your servants. Help us, Your servants. Help us to faithfully reach out and do Your will, setting other people free. Even when we are attacked and hurt, even when we seem to be bound by the most powerful human institution we know – the government – help us to be faithful. You, our God, are the liberator. As Your servant liberators, help us trust that You will do for us what You do through us. Help us to trust that You will overcome all oppression and set us free to serve You.