11. READ: ACTS 16:16-40
e. How did the jailer and his family respond to the Word of the Lord?
Answer: After hearing the Word of the Lord preached to them, he and his whole family came to believe in God, and they were immediately baptized, (verses 33 and 34).
Acts 2:38a, 41a: "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins'...Those who accepted his message were baptized..."
From The Acts of the Apostles From Jerusalem to Rome by Wayne Jackson:
The jailer lovingly took them (to another location), and, out of deep contrition for his earlier rough treatment, washed off the dried blood from the cruel beatings. Then he and his entire household were immersed immediately. If a few drops of water are sufficient for "baptism," why was not the rite performed in the jail? Was there no water at all there? Lenski surrenders some integrity when he says: "The quantity of water present is wholly immaterial" (683).
Too, if baptism is merely an optional matter, why not postpone the act until a more convenient time, instead of performing the immersions in the dead of night? Chrysostom (c. A.D. 347-407) commented upon this episode: "He [the jailer] washed and was washed; he washed them from their stripes, and was himself washed from his sins" (Homilies on Acts 36). The great scholar of Constantinople knew nothing of the modern notion that baptism is unrelated to salvation.
The jailer then brought the brethren "up into his house" (he may have lived above the prison). He provided them with food (likely they had not eaten for a while). He and his whole family "rejoiced greatly" (again evidence of mental maturity), "having believed in God." The verb is a perfect tense form, i.e., they had come to a state of belief which still was with them. Observe that the "rejoicing" came after baptism, not before. It is very important to notice that the participle, "having believed in God," encompassed the immersion. Can it ever be said, in the ultimate sense of the language, that one has "believed," if he has refused to do what the Lord has commanded? Belief is a comprehensive term...."