Opening doors and breaking chains
Acts 16:25-34
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
Wow, what a show of power! Every now and then in the Bible, God shows up in a powerful way and demonstrates what He is actually capable of.
You and I may wish that He would do these types of impressive miracles more often, but we are left to trust that He knows what He’s doing by making this type of overt demonstration of power the exception rather than the rule.
It appears to me that God is demonstrating in this passage that he can literally open prison doors and break physical chains as a way of showing us that He also has the power to release people from captivity and the metaphorical chains of sin.
I’m reminded of Isaiah 61:1-3 – “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”
So, while we may not see literal prison doors busted open and chains broken as a matter of course, we are reminded that on the cross, Jesus broke the power of sin and death for all who look to Him for salvation.
That same power that raised Christ from the dead and broke open those prison doors also dwells in us. What an amazing and powerful thing for us to try to take hold of!
Lord Jesus, today we are reminded of what you have done on the cross to comfort the broken-hearted, bring freedom and release us from the captivity of sin. We are forever grateful. Help us to progressively walk in that freedom that You have won on the cross.
Written by Shelley Witt