A dealer in purple cloth (a rare and royal item in New Testament times) would have been a wealthy merchant. A jailer, on the other hand, was not much in the social order—he was probably paid the minimum Rome could get away with, and seen as a contaminated person who dealt with “social scum.” But God’s love reached out to both people—and changed not just one individual, but that person’s entire household.

• We live in an individualistic culture, where the idea of baptizing an entire “household” (spouse, children and probably servants) may seem a bit offensive. But the apostles’ found joy in baptizing whole households at once, which reminds us that God does not call us to be Christians all by ourselves. Did your household play any role in your journey to faith in Jesus? How do you and other household members support and encourage one another in your faith walk?
• After the earthquake, Paul’s jailer prepared to kill himself. (Roman law required jailers to serve the sentence of any prisoners they let escape.) Scholar N. T. Wright said his question in verse 30 meant, “Will you please tell me how I can get out of this mess?” The answer—“Believe in the Lord Jesus”—spoke to the whole broken, lost mess humans face. Wright added, “Everything else is contained within that—all the volumes of systematic and pastoral theology, all the worship and prayers and devotion and dogma, all the ethics and choices and personal dilemmas.” It’s a basic question we still face: do you believe in [not just “about”] the Lord Jesus?