Studies in Acts
Apollos of Ephesus given some lessons (Acts 18:24-28)
We do not know long Paul was in Antioch, possibly the winter months of AD 52/53. He then decided to make another journey. He had promised the believers in Ephesus that, Lord willing, he would return. He decided to travel to Ephesus taking the 2,500 km trek over land. This way, he could visit the churches in Galatia and Phrygia. Included were Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Very likely, during that journey he learned that after his departure, the believers in Galatia had been "enchanted" by Judaizing preachers who were teaching a gospel consisting of Christ + law (Galatians 3:1). These false teachers had placed upon the converted Gentiles a new religious yoke of slavery and were denying Paul's apostolic authority.
We can understand that on this third journey, he wanted to strengthen these believers, fortifying them against persecution from the outside and conflict from within, so they would stand firmly in the gospel of salvation by faith alone. To do this, he made that exhausting trek overland to Ephesus.
While the apostle was still working in Galatia and Phrygia, Apollos arrived in Ephesus. He was a Hellenistic Jew, raised in Alexandria, the second largest city in the Roman empire. Most of the million Jews in Egypt lived in Alexandria. It was the largest Jewish colony in the diaspora.
In the apostolic era, Alexandria had surpassed Athens as a centre of science and culture. The world famous "university library" numbered at least 900,000 scrolls. In addition to Greek scholarship, Jewish scholarship and the study of Scripture flourished there as well. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, was made there around 200 BC. Origen and Athanasius would later teach the Christian faith there. Apollos was both learned and eloquent; he must have known large portions of the what we call the Old Testament by memory.
Apollos was a pupil of John the Baptizer. Instructed by some of his disciples, he believed that Jesus was the Messiah. His knowledge did not extend any further than what John had proclaimed: the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Jesus would eternally separate the chaff from the grain on Israel's threshing floor, baptizing the penitent with the Holy Spirit and the impenitent with fire. Apollos knew that Jesus had fulfilled messianic prophecies by healing many people from their diseases, blindness, and evil spirits (cf. Isaiah 29:18; 35:5-6; Luke 7:18-22). He also knew the baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins, which John had proclaimed as refuge from the coming wrath.
But the insight that John was lacking (he was beheaded before Jesus' crucifixion; Mark 6:14-29), Apollos also lacked: the significance of the sacrifice of the Messiah on the cross, his resurrection, his ascension, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the removal of the wall of separation of the Mosaic Law that divided Israel and the nations, and Jesus' command to go everywhere teaching and baptizing in his name.
Apollos taught to others what he had heard from John's disciples. Fervent in spirit, he talked and taught everywhere what he knew about the Lord. But he didn't get any further than the baptism of John and in that way, remained stuck on the threshold of the new dispensation.
Aquila and Priscilla noticed quickly that his preaching was incomplete. With sensitivity, they took him aside and invited them to speak further with them at their home about Messiah Jesus. They saw themselves simply as believers called to further instruct the very educated scholar.
A humble man, Apollos accepted their proposal. Because Priscilla is often mentioned before Aquila (cf. Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19), people assume that she was the more gifted and better grounded than he. Now that Apollos knew the full gospel, he could become a valuable co-worker for Paul. Blessed is the shepherd and teacher who encounters this kind of "mother in Christ" and is not too proud to learn from her!
When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia (southern Greece), the believers heartily encouraged him to do so. They discerned that this gifted brother would be able to perform fruitful work. They gave him a testimony to take along for the disciples in Achaia, in which they recommended him as a Messiah-believing Scripture scholar and reliable gospel preacher. Upon his arrival, he was indeed of great support for the believers. Especially through the grace of his teaching talent.
In Corinth, he had made such a huge impression as a preacher that he became the object of a personality cult. Paul was not an impressive speaker (1 Corinthians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:6), and Apollos by contrast was a brilliant speaker. As Greeks, the Corinthians were very appreciative of eloquence. Apollos became the idol of a group of believers whose slogan was: "I am of Apollos" (1 Corinthians 1:12). Although Paul condemned this party attitude, he continued to recognize Apollos as a faithful co-worker: "I planted, Apollos watered" (1 Corinthians 3:6). Paul valued him highly, for later he requested him urgently to make another visit to Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:12). With gratitude for the impressive gifts that Apollos possessed, and he did not, Paul enlisted him without any rivalry in the work and carefully cultivated their mutual unity.
Incomplete Knowledge in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7)
There must have been more people in that position of incomplete knowledge. In Ephesus there was even a small John-the-Baptizer church, and possibly elsewhere also. The influence of John's preaching extended much further than people often suppose. If people had come to the Promised Land for one of the feasts and then returned to their diaspora homes, they could well have spread this partial knowledge. These students did know something about Jesus' activity—John the Baptizer had acknowledged him as his superior (John 1:29-34; 3:30)—but they did not yet possess complete insight into Christ's coming.
Meanwhile Paul had left Galatia and Phrygia and had travelled through the interior of Asia Minor to Ephesus to keep his promise. He did not meet Apollos, for he had already left for Corinth. He did meet some disciples who were living entirely separate from any connection to the Christian church. Initially Paul thought they were followers of the Lord Jesus. But upon further investigation, he did not see among them the features of living by the Spirit.
Although John had announced the Messiah and his Spirit baptism, they had not yet heard that in Jesus, the Messiah had already accomplished his salvation work and that he had poured out the Holy Spirit in abundance. Paul asked them in whose name they had been baptized. For the baptism of adults presupposed faith, and faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. His indwelling is the great gift and the central characteristic of a believing heart (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6; 1 John 3:24; 4:13).
So the disciples told Paul that they had been baptized with the baptism of John. They had gone no further than this prelude to Christian faith. They thought they were still living under the Old Testament, which culminated in John the Baptizer. They did not know that the Lord Jesus had meanwhile inaugurated the New Covenant.
Paul helped them overcome this deficiency. For that purpose, he talked first not about the Holy Spirit, but about Jesus! He did that in terms of Jesus' forerunner. For these disciples of John evidently lacked the proper view of the work of their teacher. John was to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus, who came immediately after him. With a view to this messianic judgement, John called everyone to repent and believe in Jesus. Whoever humbled himself and confessed his sins could be baptized by John as a sign of such penitence. By this, people received forgiveness of sins and release from the coming judgement (cf. Luke 3:1-18). These people had done that. When they heard Paul's instruction, they came to faith in the Lord Jesus and were baptized in his name.
With the coming of Christ, John's baptism was rendered obsolete. Now that Jesus had inaugurated the New Covenant, baptism was to be administered in his name. This Christian baptism signified and sealed the salvation that Jesus Christ had obtained. When the twelve men had accepted him in faith, they were permitted to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, as confirmation of the New Testament gospel. Christian baptism is the fulfillment of the baptism of John, just as marriage is the fulfillment of engagement.
The incorporation of this pre-Christian group into the Christian church was empowered in an extraordinary manner. For when Paul confirmed their incorporation with apostolic authority through the laying on of hands, the Holy Spirit came upon them. Now, in Ephesus, the same signs were repeated on a small scale that had occurred with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. These men were speaking for some time (imperfect tense) in tongues and were prophesying, glorifying God (cf. Acts 2:11; 10:46). This did not happen immediately with and through their baptism, but after Paul's apostolic laying on of hands. The New Testament tells us about numerous believers who were baptized apart from subsequently speaking in tongues: the three thousand on the day of Pentecost (2:41); the official from Ethiopia (8:38-39); Paul in Damascus (9:18); Lydia with her household (16:15); the Philippian jailor with his household (16:33). Those who do not speak in tongues must not suppose that they therefore fall short.
The Holy Spirit descends only three times in the same manner as he did on Pentecost in Jerusalem. These occurred in connection with unique occasions like the incorporation of three new categories of believers into the Christian church: (1) the Samaritans (Acts 8:17); (2) the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-46); and (3) the disciples of John in Ephesus who were lagging behind (Acts 19:6). In connection with these three transitions, the Holy Spirit confirmed in a visible manner: (a) that Israel's exceptional status had ended; (b) that the inclusion of these new groups had his full approval; and (c) that the baptism of John was obsolete and inadequate. Also unique was that the coming of the Spirit in these three instances was coupled with the laying on of hands by one or more apostles ([1] Peter and John; [2] Peter; and [3] Paul).
Verses 19:8-10 Paul breaks with the synagogue in Ephesus. During his second apostolic journey, Paul had already visited Ephesus and had proclaimed the gospel in the synagogue. At that time, people would have liked to listen further to him (18:19-21), but now his preaching ended in a separation from the synagogue. For three months he could speak boldly in Ephesus about the kingdom of God that had come with Messiah Jesus. Everyone who believed in him would receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life in that kingdom. But unbelief would be considered disobedience (John 3:36).
Regrettably, not everyone was persuaded. Some brothers accepted Jesus as the Messiah. But others began to harden themselves against the gospel, a process that always begins with the person himself. No matter what the apostle brought up from Scripture, they continued to persist in their hardness and refused to believe the gospel. In fierce religious hatred, they loudly and fiercely insulted 'the Way,' the way of salvation that was the gospel, and in so doing, they were insulting Jesus himself, who in his very person is the Way (John 14:6).
The apostle had not yet been expelled from the synagogue. Therefore, he followed the principle that as long they did not put him out, he would not go out. However, in the rejection of Christ he saw a breach that could not be healed. Paul did not continue arguing endlessly but ended his activity in the synagogue. Surely with deep sorrow (Romans 9:2), he and his disciples separated from these enemies of the truth and found a different meeting location in the hall of Tyrannus, who was possibly a philosopher or teacher in elocution.
One of the Greek manuscripts of Acts tells us in the margin of this passage that Paul had use of this space "from the fifth to the tenth hours," or from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Following the custom of that day, Tyrannus began his lecture early in the morning, so that when the temperature climbed, he and his students could enjoy a break. In late afternoon, when the heat had passed, he could continue. In the intervening hours the hall was available for Paul. If this marginal addition is correct, Paul was teaching and his students were listening during the heat of the day, when everyone else was enjoying their siesta. Not only on Saturday (Sabbath), but every day! Paul worked early every morning in the tentmaking business of Aquila, often after one of his sleepless nights (2 Corinthians 11:27). And then during the evenings he would also provide instruction to church members in their homes.
For two years Paul could proclaim the gospel here undisturbed. After some time, all the inhabitants of the province of Asia had become acquainted with the message of the Lord Jesus, Jews as well as Greeks. Here, in Asia, were the cities of Colossae, Hierapolis, and the seven churches of Revelation 2-3. In this period churches would likely have been established there. This could have been the work of Paul's fellow evangelists: Epaphras, Philemon, and Archippus in Colossae, Tychicus, and Trophimus (who was born in Asia). The central location of Ephesus would have played an important role.
During his two-year stay in Ephesus, Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:8). In Ephesus, the Lord showed in an unusual manner that Paul was a divine ambassador who was proclaiming God's Word concerning no one less than God's own Son, who liberates people, both from the guilt of sin and from its power and consequences, including physical consequence. Just as Jesus had promised before his ascension, he had supported from heaven the preaching of his apostles with many signs. But the miracles that God did in Ephesus through Paul were extraordinarily great. As a physician, Luke must have noted them with awe.
There was a very remarkable healing of diseases and releasing from demons. What was "unusual" was that the Lord often had not employed Paul's hands but his garments and work aprons (cf. Luke 8:44). When people laid these on the sick, God actively caused their ailments to leave and the demonic spirits to depart. This divine display of power made an enormous impression in the city. It conferred a strong appeal on the gospel of the Lord Jesus and the person of his apostle. Paul drew many listeners from Ephesus and from the province of Asia. The churches in Corinth, Hierapolis, and Laodicea must have originated and grown with the assistance of this heavenly support.
Questions:
How may party attitude and personality cult be avoided in the Christian church?
How should we deal with the diversity of abilities among the leaders in the church?
How has the speed of today's communications affected the church, in good or bad ways?
- Alida Sewell
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