A Midsummer's Reflection Series

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Meditation 23: Acts 16:25-34

The White Orchard, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Arles, April 1888

Paul faced many dangers throughout his ministry, as Luke recounts in his Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 16:25-34, we hear about how Paul and Silas were in prison and how God liberated them through an earthquake. When the prison guard realized what had happened, he was about to take his own life, so frightened was he of the repercussions he’d face.

Paul stopped the jailer from committing suicide. When the jailer responded asking, “what must I do to be saved?” (16:30), he was probably thinking in terms of being “saved” from the horrendous punishment that he must surely face. Paul and Silas used the opportunity to share the saving message of Jesus with him: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household” (16:31). Luke then informs us that Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house” (16:32).  

In this passage, the jailer welcomed Paul and Silas into his home where the rest of his family lived. We see the hospitality he extended to them when we read, “he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds...Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them” (16:33-34). The jailer lived a hospitality that put him at risk. He took care of the wounds of his guests, he housed them, and he fed them. He and his family opened their arms to these prisoners. 

In this jailer, we have an impressive model. How do we live hospitality? Rarely, if ever, will we be called upon to put ourselves at personal risk in offering hospitality to others. Perhaps we can find in this passage inspiration to treat those who are under our care when they may be ill or wounded, like a child, guest, or neighbor who might need medical care, just as the jailer treated the wounds of Paul and Silas.  

Heavenly Father, help us see the needs of those around us, whether they are members of our family, visiting guests, co-workers, or neighbors, and extend to them the balm of hospitality, striving to meet their needs of the moment.

Help them to encounter your love through how we treat them. 

Dr. Jeffrey Morrow, Ph.D. is a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Director of the St. Paul Studies Center at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He spent 15 years as a professor of theology at Seton Hall University’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. In his final year in that role, Dr. Morrow worked on the Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program, writing these reflections on Scripture through a lens of hospitality. 

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