14 June. Acts 16:35-40

14 June. Paul and Silas demand an apology from the Roman magistrates

"The next morning, the Roman officers sent the police to tell the jailer, 'Let those men go free'. The jailer said to Paul, 'The officers have sent an order to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.'"

"But Paul said to the police, 'They beat us in public without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens. And they threw us in jail. Now they want to make us go away quietly. No! Let them come themselves and bring us out.'"

"The police told the Roman officers what Paul said. When the officers heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. So they came and told Paul and Silas they were sorry and took them out of jail and asked them to leave the city."

"So when they came out of the jail, they went to Lydia's house where they saw some of the believers and encouraged them. Then they left [Philippi]."

          (Acts 16:35-40)

 

 

In the morning, Paul and Silas awaited their trial at the hands of the Roman authorities. But the magistrates had clearly decided that there was no convincing evidence of any misdemeanour, so they sent their underlings to free the troublemakers and get rid of them as soon as possible.

But they hadn't reckoned on Paul and Silas's next move! When the Romans soldiers came to release the prisoners and throw them out of the city, Paul and Silas played their trump card - they announced that they were Roman citizens whose rights had been ignored!

And they insisted that the magistrates came and apologise to them personally, because they'd broken the law by flogging and imprisoning Roman citizens without first giving them a fair trial.

The magistrates were understandably terrified, because they'd mistreated Roman citizens - for which there were severe penalties. They hurried over to the jail to eat humble pie and apologised profusely for their mistakes! They were fortunate that Paul and Silas agreed to leave Philippi without bringing the magistrates to trial before the Emperor! We're not told if Paul explained why, as Christians, they were able to forgive their 'enemies'.

So Paul and Silas bid farewell to Lydia and the other converts, then set off along the Via Egnatia towards Thessalonica.

The photo shows the Via Egnatia ('The Egnatian Way') as it passes through Philippi.

You can read more about Philippi @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/10-pauls-journey-to-phryg…

Powered by Church Edit