Jail Break

First reading	Acts 5:17-26 ©

The men you imprisoned are in the Temple, preaching to the people

The high priest intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the common jail.

  But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’ They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.

  When the high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin – this was the full Senate of Israel – and sent to the jail for them to be brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not inside, so they went back and reported, ‘We found the jail securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.’ When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news they wondered what this could mean. Then a man arrived with fresh news. ‘At this very moment,’ he said, ‘the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are standing there preaching to the people.’ The captain went with his men and fetched them. They were afraid to use force in case the people stoned them.

The accommodations were spartan, to say the least.  Ancient jails were not known to be comfortable places.  If you wanted to be fed, in many jails you would need to bribe the warders or have food catered in by your friends or family. So, it was the fondest wish of any prisoner incarcerated in an ancient jail to be out of there as soon as they could arrange it.  That meant escaping or breaking jail. It was hard, if not impossible to do.  Many times you were furnished with shackles that hobbled your walking ability or you might even be chained to the wall to guard against sleepwalking. 

One feature of any jailbreak is the getaway.  You wanted to be far away once your hosts figured out that you were gone. Why saw through bars, shimmy up walls, go over barbed wire if all you were going to do was to stand outside the jail's gate smoking a cigarette until the guards saw you and dragged you back to your cell?  Well, in our story, an angel of the Lord helps the apostles to escape.  They are not set free for their own good, but rather are told to go back to the temple, where they were arrested and where they told others about this New Life, the Good News.  This is exactly what they did and sure enough, some guards came and because of the popularity of the apostles, they did not roughly haul them away but asked them gently to please come and say a few words to the Great Sanhedrin for they are awaiting you at this very moment. They go along with the guards because they know that God will see them through. 

It is the same for us. Sometimes, God will release us from a prison of our own making and we for our part will feel the need to help others that were caught in the same prison.  This is a guiding principle of any twelve-step program.  You have to share it or you will lose it.  So today, think of all of the prisons that God has freed you from.  Think how He has stood you up, pulled you up as it were from your own bootstraps and set you on a better path.  Use what you have, experiences good and bad, to help others.  That is why were are in this world.  We are not here to save ourselves, this has already been done for us believers.  We are here to save others, to instill in them the news that they are beloved by God and they are welcome to be a part of His household forever.  Is there any more important work we can do?