IDENTIFYING WITH JESUS

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’

³⁸ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’

⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’⁴¹ Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralysed or lame were healed.⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practised sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.’¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women.¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptised. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, ‘Ananias!’

‘Yes, Lord,’ he answered.

¹¹ The Lord told him, ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.’

¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised,¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

¹² ‘A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.¹³ He stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ ‘Then he said: “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.¹⁵ You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”

³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’³⁵ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

³⁶ As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?’³⁸ And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.⁴⁵ The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said,⁴⁷ “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”⁴⁸ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to her home. ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,’ she said, ‘come and stay at my house.’ And she persuaded us.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.²⁸ But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’

²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’

³¹ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.’³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptised.³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole household.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.⁶ But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’

⁷ Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshipper of God.⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptised.

¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius,¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptised in my name.¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptised the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptised anyone else.)

¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.¹⁵ And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God.’

¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among you.¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’

²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷ So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.²⁸ Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.