Bible Study Lesson for Acts 18:24-28: Apollos

We now temporary take the focus off of Paul and wrap up the chapter by seeing what happens in Ephesus during Paul's absence. A new believer comes on the scene, a Jew named Apollos.

Read Acts 18:24. Alexandria is in Egypt and at that time was the second most important city in the Roman empire. It also had a large Jewish population. { Point out Alexandria on flannel map, though it is not marked. } Alexandria was well known to be an intellectual center, with their famous library. It should not be surprising that a man from this city was a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures (the Old Testament at this time.)

Read Acts 18:25. Apollos knew something about Jesus from what the Old Testament taught about the Messiah, but like John the Baptist, he was still looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. The baptism he would have been preaching was based on repentance, rather than faith in the finished work of Christ. We know that this is around 51-52 AD, so this is about twenty years after Jesus' death and resurrection. This makes me think that he was either in Judea during the time of John the Baptist and was baptized by John then, or was a follower of someone who visited Judea during that time, came back to Alexandria, and preached John's baptism to a young Apollos. To us twenty years is a long time, but in that culture, information moved slowly. He easily might not even have heard much about Jesus beyond rumors and what John the Baptist said.

But as we will see, Apollos has come to the right place, Ephesus, at the right time, while Priscilla and Aquila are there. Read Acts 18:26. Priscilla and Aquila fill in the gaps of his education, show him how Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and that he was the one that John the Baptist was waiting for. From what happens next, it is clear that he accepts this whole-heartedly and becomes a valuable addition to the missionary efforts.

Read Acts 18:27. Achaia, remember, is a Roman province, with Corinth as the capital. { Point out Corinth on flannel map }

Read Acts 18:28. It sounds like Apollos had a very similar ministry as Paul's, who also spent considerable time and effort showing the Jews through the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Read Acts 17:2-3.

Apollos becomes one of Paul's well-known co-workers. He will be mentioned briefly again in Acts 19, then once in Titus and several times in 1 Corinthians. As a short rabbit trail let's read these verses and see what else we can learn about him. Read Titus 3:13. Apparently Apollos (along with Zenas the lawyer) were carrying the letter for Paul to Titus. This seems to indicate that Apollos had regular contact with Paul.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-12. It sounds a lot like our denominational struggles today, doesn't ? (Cephas, by the way, means Peter.) It is natural that people feel a loyalty toward the leader or denomination that brought them to Christ - someone who had come to Christ through Paul's teaching, per se, would probably tend to value it over Apollos' or Peter's, for example. Others might refuse to acknowledge any honor toward a human leader and simply say "I'm a follower of Christ." The fact that Apollos is listed here (remember he was sent to Corinth and the surrounding towns to minister) tells us that he was a charismatic leader with many converts. My interactive Bible CD calls this sort of jealous and infighting "personality cults." Paul goes on to address this further in his letter. Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, 4:6.

The last time we see Apollos' name mentioned is in 1 Corinthians 16:12. Apparently the Corinthians had written to Paul and asked whether Apollos was coming to visit them. It sounded like Apollos was unwilling or unable to come - perhaps he knew about these divisions within the church and didn't want to add to the problem - or possibly it was simply that he was busy and involved in serving else where. In any case, it sounded like he did eventually plan to go back to Corinth and continue to minister there.

Blessings!

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version