LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
What does the Bible say about being in jail or prison?
Submitted to Dr. James Sulfridge
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500
Discipleship Ministries
By
Anthony Bean
What does the Bible say about being in jail or prison?
There are two types of people in jail or prison: those who were wrongfully accused and
victimized by an unjust system, and those who are guilty and whose punishment is just
according to the system of law they have broken. The Bible has something to say to both the
innocent and guilty who are in jail/prison. To the guilty, the Bible recommends truth and
submission to the laws of the government, and it offers freedom from the spiritual prison of sin
—freedom that comes through the person of Christ (Romans 6:18). To the innocent and
wrongfully accused, the Bible offers peace, patience, and hope in difficult circumstances, as well
as the hope of heavenly reward.
Obedience to authorities and laws is a biblical principle. God has instituted governments to
maintain order and to protect citizens, and if a person knowingly breaks the laws of the land,
the Bible says that person will bear the punishment for his actions (Romans 13:1–4). If going to
jail or prison is the appropriate punishment for what a person has done, according to the laws
of his nation, the Bible does not excuse that person or seek to free him. The Bible calls
submission to rules and authorities “good” (Titus 3:1). We are not to commit crimes (1 Peter
4:15). However, the apostle Paul and most of the other apostles were jailed at one time or
another for preaching the gospel. If obedience to God’s Word is considered a crime for which
one should be jailed, then Christians are to continue in obedience to God, even if prison is the
result (Acts 5:29).
There are many examples in Scripture of innocent men who were put into prison. Joseph
was thrown in an Egyptian prison because he was wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting his
master’s wife (Genesis 39:6–20). The truth was that the woman propositioned Joseph, and,
when Joseph rejected her, she took her revenge by lying about him. The truth was buried, and
Joseph wound up in jail, but “the Lord was with him” (verse 21).
John the Baptist was also thrown in prison for unjust reasons: King Herod was angry with him
for saying that it was wrong for the king to marry his brother’s wife (Mark 6:17–18). In prison,
John received special encouragement from the Lord (Luke 7:22). John was eventually beheaded
on a whim, to appease the wishes of Herod’s spiteful wife.
John’s and Joseph’s situations were terribly unjust, but the Bible never says that we will be
able to avoid injustice. In fact, Christians are to expect unjust persecution in an unjust world
(Matthew 5:10–12). “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you
to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). We will “face
trials of many kinds” and should rejoice to see them (James 1:2). The Bible does not promise
freedom from struggle or from injustice in this world. However, in the world to come, there will
be perfect justice (Isaiah 32:1). Until that time, God promises to set us free spiritually and
emotionally. Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom—even inside a jail cell (2
Corinthians 3:17).
The prison issue was at the top of Jesus’ moral agenda. He prioritized concern for the
incarcerated at the beginning of his public ministry in his inaugural sermon in Nazareth (Luke
4:16-19). Toward the end of his work and witness, he told a parable about the separation of the
sheep and the goats, the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous (Matthew 25:31-46).
One of the signs of faithfulness was whether followers visited those in prison. In the beginning,
Jesus said that God “has sent me to proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 4:18). He was
reading a passage from Isaiah 61:1, which records that the Spirit of God had anointed his
servant “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening of the prison to those who are
bound.” The word “captives” appears only in this Lucan passage, not elsewhere in the New
Testament.
In the Isaiah passage, the transliteration for captive is shabah – referring to those who had
been taken away into captivity from military conquest. The mission of God’s servant was to
liberate these war captives and to open wide the doors to the imprisoned. Some Christians read
the Isaiah passage as messianic prophecy. That is something that will occur at a future date.
Other Christians spiritualize Luke 4, thinking that it refers only to the promise of freedom from
spiritual bondage, not a reference to actual, physical imprisonment. Baptist historian Walter
Rauschenbusch took another approach to Luke 4:18-19, a more literal rendering of the passage.
He thought the text had a social application. He said it was Jesus’ “pronunciamento and
platform for Christianity.”
Moving toward the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus painted a parable of a great judgment
when the king would assess the moral quality of nations. When the “Son of man” sits on his
throne, the parable reads that “before him will be gathered all the nations” (Matthew 25:32).
Many Christians substitute the idea of individuals for “nations,” as if judgment concerns
individual actions instead of societal engagement. The king will accept into the kingdom those
who visited the imprisoned (Matthew 25:36). He will tell those who didn’t visit prisons to
depart from him (Matthew 25:43).
How we treat the marginalized and powerless is what matters to the king – and prisoners
were seen as “the least” among those in society. What is abundantly clear in a simple reading of
Luke 4 and Matthew 25 is that Jesus prioritized the prison issue for his followers. As is often the
case, he left the application of his moral agenda for his followers to figure out. Second, prisons
were used as places of punishment for those who offended the politically powerful. Prisons had
a punitive purpose. Retribution was the reason for imprisonment.
That reality still exists today in many places, although many nations find ways to mask
politically motivated imprisonment with legal justifications. Of course, such practices don’t
mean all imprisonment is without just cause. Modern-day prison punishment has the function
of punishing wrongdoers as well as reforming their behaviors. Offenders serve their time and
are supposed to re-enter society as better people.
The goal of reform is missing from three biblical stories:
Potiphar, captain of the guard for Pharaoh, wrongfully placed Joseph in prison. Potiphar’s
wife had repeatedly attempted to seduce Joseph. Then, one day, her frustration resulted in a
false report to her husband. And Joseph was imprisoned (Genesis 39). King Herod imprisoned
John the Baptist, who dared to criticize publicly the wrongness of Herod having married his
brother’s wife (Mark 6:14-29). The magistrates of Philippi threw Paul and Silas in prison on
bogus charges. After Paul and Silas took away the gift of prophecy from a slave girl, her owners
“saw that their hope of gain was gone.”
They seized them and drug them before the magistrates, charging that they were
“disturbing our city.” They did not rightfully say that Paul and Silas had denied their economic
gain (Acts 16:16-40). These biblical stories illustrate an age-old problem: Not everyone
imprisoned is guilty of genuine wrongdoing. Third, imprisonment did not quench the witness of
biblical believers. Nor did prisons impede the work of God. After Paul and Silas were imprisoned
in Philippi, they prayed and sang. They gave a witness to the other prisoners who listened to
their testimony.
When the jailer sought to commit suicide – thinking that his prisoners had escaped
following the earthquake – Paul and Silas intervened. Their witness led to the jailer’s conversion
and that of his family (Acts 16:16-40). Peter was also imprisoned when King Herod was
persecuting the church to curry political favor. King Herod placed a heavy guard around Peter,
intending to do him harm after the season of Passover. Yet Peter escaped by the hand of God
(Acts 12:1-11). The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah had his own imprisonment by King Zedekiah of
Judah when Babylon besieged Jerusalem.
Following God’s instructions, Jeremiah conducted the business of investing in real estate.
He purchased property in Anathoth from his cousin Hanamel. Jeremiah witnessed to the people
that God had a good future for them in the worst of times (Jeremiah 32). These biblical stories
disclose the divine presence and the positive witness of believers in prisons. As prisons and
imprisonment are threads that run through the Bible, prison ministry and concern about
prisons ought to run more powerfully through churches. Doing interviews for our forthcoming
documentary on prisons and faith, we have repeatedly heard references to Matthew 25.
It is the biblical lynchpin for many Christians who are involved in prison ministry. It is also a
question mark that makes one wonder why more churches are not involved in prisons and with
those returning from prison. Other passages are cited. The moral theology of restorative justice
instead of retributive justice is voiced. Many interviewees confess a self-serving reason for their
involvement – they receive a blessing for working with offenders and returning citizens.
Our criminal justice system and prison complex differ sharply from biblical times. For
example, we live in a democracy, not a theocratic or autocratic state devoid of rights, lacking in
due process. However, the gap between then and now does not negate the Bible’s authority
and guidance. While no biblical blueprint exists for how Christians are to engage the prison
issue, the biblical witness offers us a moral compass. The direction is clear. The details are left
to us to work out.
