Acts 16:35 - Meaning and Application

In these verses we see, first, orders sent for Paul and Silas to be released from prison (Acts 16:35, 36). The same magistrates who had so wrongly abused them the day before gave the order. Their early action, just after daybreak, suggests either that the midnight earthquake had frightened them, or that their consciences had begun to trouble them. While the prisoners were singing in the stocks, the persecutors were restless with fear and guilt, more troubled by conscience than the prisoners were by their lashes. So God caused those who had taken his servants captive to pity them (Psalm 106:46).

The magistrates sent the sergeants, the officers who had used the rods, to bring the order. They were told, “Let those men go.” They may have planned further harm, but God turned their hearts. As he had made their anger serve his praise, so he restrained the rest of it (Psalm 76:10).

The jailer brought Paul and Silas the news in Acts 16:36: “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now leave and go in peace.” Some think the jailer had already told the magistrates what happened in his house that night and so had helped bring about the release. He was glad to see them free from the stocks, though not eager to lose them as guests. God could have turned the magistrates as easily as he had turned the jailer, but he has chosen the poor of this world (James 2:5).

Second, Paul insisted that the magistrates had broken the law by beating them without trial (Acts 16:37). Paul said to the officers, in effect, “They beat us publicly, without a hearing, though we are Romans, and they threw us into prison against all law and justice. And now they want to send us away secretly, as if that makes up for it? No, let them come themselves and lead us out.” It is likely that the magistrates had learned they were Romans and realized they had gone beyond what the law allowed. That may be why they now wanted to free them.

Paul did not claim his Roman citizenship before the beating, though it might have prevented it. He did not want to seem afraid to suffer for the truth he preached. But he did raise the matter afterward, to honor both his suffering and the cause he suffered for. He wanted the world to see that gospel ministers were not the low and worthless people many took them to be. He also wanted to help the Christians at Philippi by gaining them better treatment and a better name in the city.

Paul showed the magistrates how badly they had acted. They had beaten Roman citizens, which Roman law forbade. They had done it without a hearing, since no one should be condemned before being heard. They had done it openly, which made the disgrace greater and showed more open contempt for justice. They had also thrown the men into prison without giving a proper reason, and they were now trying to send them away secretly. They lacked the courage to defend what they had done, but not the honesty to admit they were wrong.

Paul also pressed for a public acknowledgment of their mistake. Since the magistrates had disgraced them publicly, they should release them publicly. He wanted them to come in person and lead them out, so that everyone would know Paul and Silas had done nothing worthy of stripes or chains. Paul was not fighting for his own pride here, but for justice and for the honor of the gospel. He wanted the public clamors against them to stop once the magistrates admitted their wrong.

Third, we see the magistrates submit and reverse their earlier judgment against Paul and Silas, in Acts 16:38, 39.

The magistrates were frightened when they learned, or perhaps only had confirmed, that Paul was a Roman citizen. They feared that if his friends reported what they had done to the authorities, they might suffer for it. Persecutors often act illegally, even by human law, and cruelly, against the law of nature, but they always sin against God’s law.

Then they came and begged Paul and Silas not to press the matter against them. They wanted them to overlook the wrong they had done and say nothing more about it. So they brought them out of prison, admitting that they had been put there unjustly, and asked them to leave the city peacefully. In this, they were like Pharaoh and his servants, who had defied God and Moses and then came bowing before Moses, saying, “Get out” (Exodus 11:8). God can make his enemies ashamed of their envy and hatred toward his people (Isaiah 26:11). Jerusalem can become a heavy stone to those who try to lift it, something they are eager to be rid of (Zechariah 12:3).

Yet if these magistrates had truly repented, they would not have simply wanted Paul and Silas out of their city, as the Gadarenes wanted to get rid of Christ. They would have wanted them to stay and would have asked them to keep teaching the way of salvation. Many people can see that Christians should not be persecuted, but still do not see that Christianity should be received. They may be forced to honor Christ and his servants, and even bow before their feet and know that he has loved them (Revelation 3:9), yet still never come to receive Christ’s help or share in his love.

Paul and Silas then left Philippi, but only after they were legally released, not before, even though their imprisonment had been unlawful. First, they visited their friends. They went to Lydia’s house, where the believers had probably gathered to pray for them, and there they saw the brothers and sisters, or visited them in their homes, which could be done quickly since there were so few. They comforted them, telling them, as an old Greek commentary says, what God had done for them and how he had shown his approval in prison. They encouraged them to stay close to Christ and hold firmly to their faith, whatever troubles came, and assured them that in the end all would be well, forever well. New believers need much comfort, because the joy of the Lord will be a great source of strength for them.

Then they left the city. It is surprising that they did so, because after such an honorable release from prison, they might seem able to keep working there safely for a while. But I think they followed their Master’s principle: “Let us go to the nearby towns, so I can preach there also, because that is why I came” (Mark 1:38). Paul and Silas had been specially called to Philippi, and yet when they arrived there, they saw little immediate fruit and were soon driven out. Still, they did not labor there in vain. Even though the beginning was small, the work later grew greatly. They laid the foundation of a church at Philippi, which became very important, had its bishops and deacons, and had believers who were more generous to Paul than those in any other church, as his letter to the Philippians shows (Philippians 1:1; 4:15). Ministers should not lose heart if they do not see quick results. Seed that seems lost under the soil will, in due time, come up in a rich harvest.