Read or listen The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 16 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

The congregations become stronger – Acts 16:1-5

Luke tells us that Paul first came to Derbe, the last and easternmost city of the first missionary journey. On his second missionary journey, Paul came from the east, through the Cilicia Gates, a pass over 1,000 meters above sea level. In the 330s BC, Alexander the Great had led his Macedonian army through the same pass eastward on his conquests. Now Paul led a different kind of conquest towards the west.

Was Paul inconsistent?

In Lystra, Paul's company was joined by Timoteus, who became one of Paul's most important colleagues. Timothy’s mother was Jewish, but his father was Greek. According to Jewish law, such a marriage was illegal, and Timothy was considered an illegitimate child. He should have been circumcised at eight days of age, but perhaps because of the opposition of his pagan father, circumcision had not been performed.

Luke says that Paul circumcised Timothy. This has given rise to many theories. Many scholars believe that Luke was mistaken. “Paul could not have circumcised anyone!” Titus—another of Paul’s associates—was not circumcised (Galatians 2:3). But Titus was a Greek, while Timothy was a Jew because of his Jewish mother.

It is true that especially in the Epistle to the Galatians (for example Gal 5:2, 5:11) Paul very strongly opposes circumcision. But the reason for the opposition was the idea of ​​circumcision as a way of salvation. This time the question was not about that, but about not making it unnecessarily difficult to spread the gospel. If there had been an uncircumcised Jew in Paul's traveling party, the Jews would certainly have been incensed by such an annoyance.

It is noteworthy that in verse 4 Luke mentions the decrees of the apostles’ meeting of the previous chapter. They had the same goal: to achieve peace between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Circumcision is not in itself an obstacle to salvation. That is why Paul did not always oppose it. It only becomes an obstacle to salvation if it is made a condition for salvation. There are many things that can become obstacles to salvation – money, power, honor, etc. – but which are not necessarily so. In this time and in this context, Paul wanted to be a Jew to the Jew (1 Cor. 9:20).

The Gospel to Europe – Acts 16:6-10

The Holy Spirit led Paul, Silas, and Timothy toward Europe. From Pisidian Antioch there would have been a good military route to Ephesus, the capital of Asia Minor, which was one of the five great cities of the Roman Empire. However, Paul and his companions did not reach there, but the Holy Spirit led them toward the north.

How long Paul stayed in Galatia is unclear. He would have liked to continue north, to the Black Sea coast in Bithynia (verse 7), but this time the Holy Spirit led Paul and his companions northeast, to Troas. How did the Holy Spirit lead Paul? We do not know. Perhaps it was illness, as the letter to the Galatians would indicate (Gal. 4:13).

Apparently, Paul did not establish a church in Troas this time, but only on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:5-7, 2 Cor. 2:12). It is possible, however, that Luke is condensing his narrative so that Paul could “get” to Europe as quickly as possible and is omitting some of the events in Troas.

How did Paul know the man in his dream was Macedonian? Both the dress code—a wide Macedonian hat—and the broad Macedonian dialect of Greek have been suggested. In any case, Paul was convinced that God had called him to Europe to preach the gospel.

The we periods in Acts

Verse 10 begins the first section of the Acts of the Apostles, which uses the first person narrative (Acts 16:10-17). There are four such sections in total: Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-15, 21:1-18, and 27:1-28:31, although the second and third sections can be combined into a long section, 20:5-21:18.

These episodes form a chain:
16:10-17 from Troas to Philippi (second missionary journey),
20:5-21:18 from Philippi via Miletus to Jerusalem (third missionary journey), and 27:1-28:31 from Jerusalem to Rome.

Whose travelogue is this? The answers can be divided into three groups:

1. It is just a stylistic device; Luke wants to draw his reader into the events. But why would he do it only in these three sections?
2. Luke quotes the travelogue of some unknown companion of Paul (Silas? Timothy?).
3. Luke quotes his own travelogue.

The choice must be made mainly between the latter two. Scholars are divided, but recently the traditional position – Luke quotes “himself” – has gained renewed support. It is the most natural interpretation.

The First European Christian? – Acts 16:11-15

As we read these verses, we hear the rustling of the wings of history. Today, the journey Paul made would mean not only moving from Asia to Europe, but also moving from a Muslim country to a Christian one. But Paul hardly noticed much of a difference - both Asia Minor and Macedonia were part of the Roman Empire.

The idea that the Christian faith only came to Europe with Paul is also not historically correct. Acts 18:1-2 tells us that Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. The Roman historian Suetonius says that the expulsion took place in 49 AD because there had been a dispute among the Jews about “Chrestus”. Apparently, however, it was about Christ. So there was already a Christian congregation in Rome in the 40s. Paul apparently did not come to Europe until the year 50. It is possible that Jews from Rome had also been listening to Peter's Pentecost sermon.

Although Lydia was not the first Christian in Europe, Paul's arrival in Europe was significant. Through the missionary work led by Paul, many important Greek cities got a Christian congregation. Without Paul, European history would have taken a different course.

Lydia, the seller of purple, was from the city of Thyatira on the other side of the Aegean Sea (Rev. 2:18-29), which was a center of the purple industry.

"The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul."
(verse 14)

Lydia’s conversion was the work of God, and not the result of Paul’s skillful speech. Of course, Lydia had heard about the God of the Old Testament before, as she was “a worshiper of God”.

There were not many Jews in Philippi, apparently not even the ten men needed to hold synagogue services.

Enemies of mankind - Acts 16:16-24

Paul's work in Philippi was not without problems either. There was a slave girl who had a spirit of divination. Luke tells us that it was a Python spirit, which was associated with the worship of the god Apollo. Apparently, this was the reason why Paul cast the spirit out of the girl: he did not want the gospel to be associated with a Greek priestess of an idol. The Gospels tell us that Jesus did the same after the demons recognized him as the Son of God (for example, Luke 4:41).

When the slave girl's owners realized that they had lost their source of income, they seized Paul and Silas and brought them to the city marketplace. Of course, Paul and Silas could not be accused of healing the slave girl. The accusers stirred up general hostility against the Jews and their customs: "These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city."

The accusation fell on fertile ground. After all, Philippi was a “piece of Italy in Macedonia.” The city was a Roman military colony and its inhabitants had the same rights as Roman citizens living in Italy, plus self-government and tax exemption. The Philippians wanted to be more Roman than the Romans.

Paul and Silas were not given a chance to defend themselves, and even if they had, it would hardly have helped them. They were flogged and thrown into prison.

God intervenes – Acts 16:25-34

Paul and Silas did not behave like ordinary prisoners, but praised God. Philippi is an earthquake-prone area, and that night an earthquake opened the prison doors and the prisoners' chains. The fact that all the prisoners remained in prison indicates that they experienced the earthquake as being connected to the songs of praise of those two prisoners.

The jailer also woke up and saw the prison doors open. He thought the prisoners had escaped. Since the jailer was responsible for the prisoners with his life, he decided to kill himself rather than wait for the judgment and punishment of the city leaders. Paul interrupted the guard's intentions. After the guard asked for the way to salvation, Paul led him to know Christ.

Baptisms of families

"and he was baptized at once, he and all his family."
(verse 33)

Again Luke tells of the baptism of a household, as also in verse 15 about Lydia's family: "...after she was baptized, and her household as well".

It would be strange to say that there were no children in the families. The fact that the New Testament does not emphasize the baptism of children is because no one questioned the practice. After all, Jewish children were not left uncircumcised either. Only later did movements develop that only baptized adults, but those movements were declared heretical and excommunicated from the church.

Baptism and teaching or teaching and baptism?

Paul baptized the jailer’s family that very night (verse 33). Paul could not be sure whether he would still be alive the next day. But the reason for the quick baptism must have been, above all, that baptism was the gateway to the church. From early Christian writings we know that only the baptized were allowed to participate in the Lord’s Supper, the communion meal of Christians.

Today, in missionary work, we have to consider whether those who have become Christians from paganism should be baptized as soon as they agree to it, or only after they have been properly taught the basics of the Christian faith. Both practices are used and both have their pros and cons.

For many pagans, baptism is a final departure from their former religion. But is rapid baptism leading to a large proportion of those baptized later abandoning their faith?

Teaching is always necessary, but does it lead to some people looking for a quicker way to become a full member of the Church? We know that there were long baptismal schools from early times. The baptism received at the end of the teaching often took place at Easter.

The mistake is exposed - Acts 26:35-40

When morning came, the city magistrates gave the jailer permission to release Paul and Silas. Flogging and a night in prison were punishment enough for the Jewish preachers. But Paul wanted to secure the position of the young church members and announced that he was a Roman citizen.

Not all people living in the Roman Empire were Roman citizens, but only a small number of them. Roman citizens could not be flogged and bound without trial. But this was what had been done to Paul.

Whether Silas was also a Roman citizen is unclear. In this context it would seem so, although there is no indication of this elsewhere in the New Testament.

The leaders realize that they have made a bad mistake. They must persuade Paul to leave without a fuss. In this way, the church's position became more secure: It would no longer be persecuted as easily as it had happened with Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas encouraged the congregation before leaving for Thessalonica.