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Zacchaeus the tax collector saw Jesus coming into Jericho and he “was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was sm all in stature” (Luke 19:3), “So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. This jailer shows great hospitality to those who were former prisoners. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened” (Acts 16:25-26), so the jailer cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:3 0-31), and then the jailer “took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family”(Acts 16:33). Did Paul and Silas complain to the authorities and to God about this? No, they “were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely”(Act 16:22-23) and they “put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks” (Acts 16:24). After this, “The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. When Paul cast out a demon from a woman who was bringing in money for her owners, they were outraged because “her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers”(Acts 16:19) so “when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city” (Acts 16:19-20). You might not expect someone who is in charge of the jail, as was the jailer in Acts 16, to be a good model of hospitality, but let me tell you why I think he’s a great example. Even widows in the church are to have “a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work”(1st Tim 5:10), so being hospitable is not only a good thing to do, it is commanded, especially for those who would be elders in the church as Paul writes to Timothy that pastors and elders should be, “hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined”(Titus 1:8), so what are four examples of hospitality in the Bible? The Jailer The Apostle Paul says that we should “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality”(Rom 12:13) which means we should “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2), but “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1st Pet 4:9), otherwise it’s not really being hospitable. What is hospitality? It’s based upon being hospitable. Here are four examples of hospitality in the Bible.