Scripture: Acts 16:19-22
Her owners realized that their hope for making money was gone. They grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the officials in the city center. When her owners approached the legal authorities, they said, “These people are causing an uproar in our city. They are Jews who promote customs that we Romans can’t accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod.
Thought for the Day: This is part of a great story in the Book of Acts. Paul healed a woman that had some sort of spirit within her that provided her the capacity to see the future, or at least that’s what her “owners” sold to the public. When the spirit was removed by Paul, suddenly those who had been making an easy buck of this woman were angry. There is a line in this passage that provides some insight into the opinions people had of those who were Jewish. Remember, Paul (he still considered himself a Jew) and his companion, Silas, had crossed over to Greece, and though this was still part of the Roman Empire, they were getting further and further away from the Holy Land. According to those who were angry with Paul and Silas, these outsiders were Jews who promoted customs that were not acceptable in Roman culture. Now this was probably a fear tactic, though it worked as the authorities seized and beat Paul and Silas. How often do people, who feel as if their financial livelihood is challenged, borrow a page from the book of hate? They will play on people’s fears – fear of the other, of the stranger, of the outsider. Of course, we are still pretty good at doing this today.
Prayer: Let me never be discouraged by hateful or disrespectful actions that just might be people’s fears playing themselves out. Gracious God, let Paul and Silas be for me a model of faithfulness in a world where people’s motives are not always clear. Amen.
