Acts 18:23-28 meaning

In Acts 18:23-28, Paul begins his third missionary journey.

After 2 or 3 years of being away on his second missionary journey, Paul returned to his home church of Syrian Antioch (See Map). He had planted churches in the Macedonian cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, and the Achaian city of Corinth. He brought some few to faith in Athens, and a tradition says a church formed there as well, though it is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. After spending time briefly in Ephesus, Paul sailed back to Israel, visiting the Jerusalem church, then journeyed north to Syria to return home to Antioch.

Luke, the author of Acts, does not tell us any specifics about Paul’s time in Antioch during this particular visit. In verse 23, Paul sets out on his third missionary journey:

And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples (v. 23).

Paul spent some time there in Antioch, though how much is not specified. After some rest and  time to prepare for another journey, Paul left Antioch. He goes first to Galatia, where he and Barnabas planted several churches on his first missionary journey. He most likely went the same route as on his second mission trip, going by foot through Cilicia and crossing the pass known as the Cilician Gates through the Taurus Mountains into Galatia (See Map). Paul visited the disciples in the Galatian region: likely including the churches of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch.

The journey from the Cilician Gates through each of these cities adds up to roughly 280 miles, ending in Pisidian Antioch.

With each visit he was strengthening all the disciples in those communities. Paul checked in on the health of each of the churches. He taught while visiting each church, and may have answered questions they had about living as disciples of Christ, settled any disputes, and prayed over and encouraged all the believers in Galatia.

Luke, the author of Acts, now shifts his focus away from Paul for a brief passage. In the next few verses, Luke tells his reader about someone whom Aquila and Priscilla meet in Ephesus.

Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures (v. 24).

Apollos is described as both a Jew and an Alexandrian by birth, which means he was born to Jewish parents (or at least a Jewish mother) in Alexandria, Egypt. He was an eloquent man who came to Ephesus for reasons untold, but he was well spoken and easy to listen to. Not only were his public speaking skills polished, he was well educated and very knowledgeable, being mighty in the Scriptures. This is a distinct way for Luke to emphasize how deeply Apollos knew the Hebrew bible, that he was mighty, strong, powerful in his understanding and recall of the Scriptures.

Despite his ability to teach the Hebrew Bible in an engaging manner, Apollos was somewhat lacking in the latest revelations from God. He knew of Jesus, and seems to have believed in Him as Messiah, but Apollos’s full understanding of Jesus was incomplete:

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John (v. 25).

Luke lists several details about This man Apollos in verse 25:

• He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. The way of the Lord probably references the way of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth. Before Christianity was called Christianity, it was known as the way (Acts 9:2, 19:9, 23, 22:4, 24:14). The Lord sometimes refers to God the Father, but in this context it likely refers to Jesus. The central debate around Jesus then and now is whether or not Jesus was who He claimed to be. Was Jesus just a man? Or is Jesus Lord? Apollos had been instructed about Jesus the Messiah’s teachings, in the way of the Lord.
• Apollos was fervent in spirit. Apollos is an effective, authentic teacher. He is not only eloquent and knowledgeable, but he really cares about what he is saying. His spirit, his tone and personality, is fervent and passionate and energetic.
• Newly arrived to Ephesus, Apollos is speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus. He is teaching a generally correct message about the things concerning Jesus. We will see he has gaps in his knowledge, but he was not teaching anything incorrect or false about Jesus. What he spoke was mostly accurate, if incomplete.
• Apollos was acquainted only with the baptism of John. The extent of Apollos’s understanding about the things concerning Jesus was limited to the baptism of John. John the Baptizer’s message and baptism was about preparing the hearts of the Israelites for the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom. Apollos apparently knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but had not been baptized into the baptism of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Messiah.

Apollos, like Paul, began to speak out boldly in the synagogue in Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila are present in the audience at the synagogue. Apollos was teaching boldly about the way of the Lord and the things concerning Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila saw the potential in Apollos, how fervent he was for the truth. So when he finished teaching in the synagogue, they met with him privately:

But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately (v. 26).

Their reaction to Apollos is respectful and loving, that they took him aside and did not argue with him in public. Apollos was on the right track, spreading the truth as far as he knew it. Priscilla and Aquila equip him with a more complete understanding of the truth. They explained to him the way of God more accurately. Whatever gaps in knowledge Apollos had, Priscilla and Aquila made them whole. They completed his understanding beyond the baptism of John and told him the rest of the story. They may have even baptized him in Jesus’s name.

We do not know exactly what Apollos did not know, but after his time with Priscilla and Aquila he was better prepared to teach the way of God more accurately. The way of God refers to God’s plan of reconciling humanity to Himself, accomplished by His Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was the Messiah, He performed miracles, He died, was buried, and rose again as prophesied by the Scriptures. To anyone who will put their trust in Jesus, they will be given new life, and have right standing before God. After their earthly life ends, their hope is secure in living eternally with God (Romans 6:4, John 3:14-15, 10:28).

Apollos is an interesting figure in the New Testament. He seemingly comes out of nowhere, yet is already walking by faith in God and seeking to know and spread God’s message. The book of Acts primarily focuses on the work of the Apostles, specifically Peter and Paul. But the Holy Spirit is at work in people outside of Luke’s account.

It is likely that Luke’s writing of Acts was motivated by the opposition to Paul and those seeking to undermine his apostolic authority. Luke has carefully documented that anything Peter did, Paul did too. He has documented Paul’s conversion, how he met the Lord in person. In writing this account, Luke succeeded in cementing Paul’s place as an apostolic authority, resulting in roughly a quarter of the New Testament consisting of Paul’s writings.

By including this brief interlude regarding Apollos, we are reminded that God was working in many places through many people who were not recorded. Apollos was clearly set on a mission by the Spirit as he first comes to Ephesus. He stays there, learning from Priscilla and Aquila for an undisclosed amount of time, but soon enough is called to go to Greece:

And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace (v. 27).

We know Apollos went specifically to Corinth based on Acts 19:1. Corinth was in Achaia, the province of southern Greece. Ephesus  was on the coast of Asia Minor (the west coast of modern Turkey). Apollos would have to sail in a ship to go across the Aegean Sea roughly 350 miles to Achaia (See Map).

Apollos’s decision to go to Corinth was endorsed by the brethren in Ephesus, such as Priscilla and Aquila. The brethren encouraged Apollos to go to Corinth, even writing a letter of recommendation to send with him, so that the disciples in Corinth would welcome him.

Luke summarizes Apollos’s effect once he arrived in Corinth: he greatly helped those who had believed through grace (v. 27).

The way he greatly helped the Corinthian believers was to defend their faith against the Corinthian Jews who continued to oppose the gospel. Many of the Jews in Corinth believed in Jesus, such as Crispus and Sosthenes, who were both previously leaders of the synagogue there (Acts 18:8, 17). But there was a contingent of the Jews who had hated Paul’s presence in Corinth and repeatedly petitioned the proconsul to do something about Paul. Some of these hostile Jews had even physically assaulted Sosthenes in front of the proconsul’s judgement seat.

After Paul left, these Jewish opponents may have continued to harass the Corinthian church. Now Apollos arrives and greatly helped those who had believed through grace by debating the Jewish opponents:

for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ (v. 28).

Apollos’ debates with the Jews were in public, for everyone to see—believers, other undecided local Jews, and Corinthian non-believers. Apollos powerfully refuted these enemies of the gospel with his eloquence, his fervent spirit, his mighty knowledge of the scripture, and his full understanding of Jesus Christ after being discipled by Aquila and Priscilla. He pointed to the Scriptures, demonstrating how the Old Testament prophesied all that the Messiah would do, and how Jesus had fulfilled all of these prophecies, proving that He was the Christ (Messiah).

Apollos’s refutation of this sect of Jews was so effective that it seems to have shut them up for a time, which greatly helped the Corinthian church experience a period of peace and growth. Apollos was apparently a powerful leader as well. In 1 Corinthians 3:4, we learn that divisions had emerged among the believers in Corinth about whether they should follow Paul or Apollos.  Paul resolves that by saying “You should follow neither of us, you should follow Jesus, as we do” (1 Corinthians 3:5, 9).

Corinth was a wildly depraved city. The Corinthian believers would experience divisions, and sinful elements would infiltrate the church, requiring Paul’s intervention (1 Corinthians 1:11-12, 5:1-2, 6:1-11, 6:15-20, 11:17-22).