Philippians 1:13

“so that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest”

“So that”: Paul now names the positive results of his imprisonment. “My bonds became manifest in Christ”: “My imprisonment in the cause of Christ” (NASV). “For everyone around here, including all the soldiers over at the barracks, know my chains are simply because. am. Christian” (Tay). “Praetorian guard”: Either refers to the soldiers that formed the Praetorian guard or the barracks or camp of this guard. This basically refers to the same thing, that is, all these soldiers realized that Paul was. prisoner because he proclaimed the gospel. “This was. body of ten thousand picked soldiers who served as the emperor's body guards. They stayed in. fortified camp on the northeast side of Rome” (Jackson p. 30).

“There is no virtue in mere imprisonment per se; there is, however, great blessing in tribulation for Christ (cf. 1 Peter 4:14)” (Jackson p. 30). The book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome. We learn that he was under house arrest and that. soldier guarded him (Acts 28:16). “It was natural that the soldier (relieved by. comrade every four hours or so) should be. member of the imperial bodyguard. News about this extraordinary prisoner would naturally spread through the praetorian barracks” (Bruce p. 41). We also learn that Paul was permitted to have visitors (Acts 28:17 “and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God with all openness, unhindered”). Thus over time these various soldiers that guarded Paul heard the gospel message. As one writer pointed out, who really was the "captive"? Everyday Paul would have several Roman soldiers as. captive audience. “His imprisonment had opened the way for preaching the gospel to the finest regiment in the Roman army” (Barclay p. 22). “It is not difficult to imagine that at first they listened with. measure of disdain or hardly listened at all. But after. while they became interested, and then enthusiastic. And what they learned they began to spread. ‘We are guarding. very remarkable prisoner'. And so the news spread, from guard to guard, to the families of the guards, to Caesar's household” (Hendriksen p. 69).

We often forget that we need to allow people to decide if they are interested or not in the gospel. Our job is simply to share it with everyone we can. “Yes, even these hardened soldiers, these rude legionaries, who presumably would be the very last to be affected in any way by the gospel, were deeply moved by what they saw, heard and felt in the presence of Paul” (Hendriksen p. 69).. great lesson needs to be learned here. Often we tend to stop talking about "religious things" when we know that others are listening, such as when. waitress is refilling our coffee cup. Like Paul, we need to talk about the gospel, no matter who is listening. We need to proclaim it with boldness, and we need to speak freely about the things of God, even when non-Christians are present. We often forget that "what" these soldiers heard was books like Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon being dictated, and they heard the contents of some New Testament books, before anyone else did.

“And to all the rest”: “The inhabitants of Rome in general. Paul's case and, even better, Christ's cause, became ‘the talk of the town'” (Hendriksen p. 69).