Acts 16:16-34

Textual Overview

By the time we reach Acts 16, we’ve come a long way from resurrection morning. The good news about Jesus Christ has burst out of the tomb, out of Jerusalem, out of Judea, out of Judaism itself and made it all the way to the Roman colony of Philippi, set about 10 miles off the coast in Macedonia. The church in Philippi would later receive Paul’s letter to the Philippians. That epistle drips with joy, revealing how deeply Paul loved and cherished the believers there.

There is a plethora of ancient context that can be brought to bear on this passage, including: 

• the history and geography of Philippi 

• Philippi’s establishment as a Roman colony

• the rights and privileges afforded such a…