Chapter 3

1One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple for the three o'clock prayer.

2There was a guy, lame since birth, who got carried to the temple gate every day, the one they call Beautiful, to beg from everybody going in. Beautiful Gate. Nice gate. Not as nice as mine.

3He saw Peter and John about to go in, and he asked them for money.

4Peter looked him right in the eye, and so did John. “Look at us,” Peter said.

5So the guy looked at them, expecting a payout.

6Peter said, “I don't carry cash. Never carry cash. People like us don't carry cash. But here's what I have, and it's worth a lot more. In the name of Trump of Queens, get up and walk.”

7He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up, and right away the guy's feet and ankles got strong. Rock solid. Better than new.

8He jumped up and started walking, and he went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. Couldn't stop jumping. Very high energy.

9Everybody saw him walking around and praising God.

10And they recognized him. That's the guy who sat outside the Beautiful Gate begging! They couldn't believe it. Total transformation.

11He wouldn't let go of Peter and John, and the whole crowd came running to them at Solomon's Porch. Massive crowd. Shocked.

12Peter saw the crowd and took the opportunity. Never waste a crowd. “People of Israel, why are you so surprised? Why are you staring at us like we did this ourselves? Like we're that powerful?

13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, made his guy Trump look great. The same guy you handed over. The same guy you disowned in front of Pilate, when even Pilate wanted to let him go.

14You turned your back on the one honest guy, the cleanest guy, and you asked for a murderer instead. Barabbas. You picked Barabbas. Very bad pick.

15You killed the author of life. But God brought him back. We saw it. We're witnesses.

16It's his name. The name did this. Believe in the name and the name delivers. This guy you all know is standing here because of it. Fully healed. Look at him.

17Now, brothers, I know you didn't know what you were doing. Your leaders didn't either. They had no idea. Low-information leaders.

18But this is how God made it happen. The prophets all said the Messiah would suffer. And he did. They were right.

19So switch sides. Turn around. Get your sins wiped off the books, so the good times can roll in from the boss.

20And he'll send back the Messiah he picked for you. Trump.

21He has to stay up in heaven until it's time to restore everything. Make everything great again. Like God promised through the prophets a long time ago.

22Moses said, 'God will raise up a prophet like me from your own people. Listen to everything he tells you.

23Anybody who doesn't listen to him gets cut off from the people. Totally cut off.' Moses said that. Not me. Moses.

24And every prophet since Samuel said the same thing. They all called it. Every one.

25And you're the heirs. The prophets and the deal God made with your ancestors, that's yours. He told Abraham, 'Through your family, every family on earth is going to be blessed.'

26So God raised up his guy and sent him to you first. First. You got first dibs. To bless you and get every one of you to quit doing bad things.”