Acts 16:25-34 (NIV)
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family.
The jailer had known the charges against Paul and Silas: they were Jews who were advocating the worship of other gods. And, as he locked them up, he had heard them talk and testify about Jesus. The jail was attached to his house, so that he could hear all that went on, and as he fell asleep, he heard the pair talking about Jesus with the other prisoners, heard them praying, and heard them singing hymns.
Suddenly, he was jolted out of sleep by a strong earthquake. He looked over and noticed that the door to the prison was standing wide open, something that an earthquake could not have done, as it had been securely locked and bolted.
As he walked over to take a look, all he could think about was how terrible this was! The prisoners were his responsibility, and if any of them had escaped, he would be interrogated to see if he had been in cahoots with whoever had broken into the prison. Then he would likely be executed, his whole family disgraced by being associated with a traitor to the empire!
As he stood in the door, his form was silhouetted against the light of the room. The inner doors of the prison cells had been thrown open at the time of the earthquake, and all the prisoners’ chains had unlocked and fallen to the floor at the same moment. Looking up, Paul could see the outline of the jailer as he drew his sword and pointed it at his own chest. Paul intuited what was happening and called out to stop him. Yes, all the doors had been opened, not by jailbreakers, but by a miracle. But no one had left; they were all still there.
The jailer dropped his sword in amazement. No earthly force could possibly have accomplished what he was seeing! As he went down and saw all the prisoners’ chains laying open on the floor, his mind went to the only possible explanation: the “foreign gods” of Paul and Silas, this Jesus they had been going on and on about, were all real, and had opened the prison and set everyone free.
He fell to his knees and asked the most important question any human being could possibly ask: “What must I do to be saved?”
The formula was the same for everyone: Jew and gentile, old and young, male and female, slave and free: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The addendum, “You and your household,” did not mean that this man’s faith would save the others in his family, but that this salvation was not for him alone, but could come to everyone in his household.
The jailer got the whole family and all the servants out of bed, and they all listened as Paul and Silas told everyone about Jesus while the jailer treated the welts on their backs. They all believed, especially in light of the miracle of the earthquake and all that it had done. So, as soon as the jailer was done cleaning and dressing their wounds, the whole household was immediately baptized.
Father, Your miracle not only opened the doors of the jail, it opened the hearts of the jailer and his household to the good news of the kingdom and to faith in Jesus. Paul and Silas and the rest could have fled, but they looked for what Your real purpose was for the earthquake, and they found it immediately. They saved the jailer, body and soul, and were able to bring him and his whole household into Your kingdom. Help me, Lord, to always look to You before I simply respond to circumstances, so that I always have the opportunity to glorify You with my every action. Amen.
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