Acts 18:1-4, 18-21, 24-28
While the book of Acts is titled Acts of the Apostles, the book is a record of that which God did through the apostles and through believers who willingly submitted themselves to be vessels for His use. The text before us focuses directly upon that which God did through Priscilla and Aquila. God used Priscilla and Aquila to fashion Apollos into a more fitting vessel.
In the eighteenth chapter of Acts, we meet Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos. All three were Jews. Aquila and his wife Priscilla were expelled from Rome by the emperor Claudius. Apollos was a native of Alexandria. Alexandria was the center of learning and culture. It was the Greco-Roman world’s equivalent to the Ivy League universities of America.
Let us first consider Apollos. He is described as eloquent and mighty in the scriptures. It is not surprising that a Jew from Alexandria might be eloquent or well-studied in the scriptures. Apollos, however, was deficient in his knowledge in that “he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John” (v. 25).
It is not clear what Apollos did or did not know. John baptized with water and prophesied that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Lk. 3:16). It would seem that Apollos understood that one must repent and be baptized to receive the Promised One of whom the prophets spoke but did not understand the baptism of which John prophesied. Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit was evident at Pentecost when cloven tongues as of fire sat upon the heads of the disciples and they spoke in tongues. The Holy Spirit (the Comforter) empowers believers to do and understand that which the flesh cannot. The baptism of Jesus is a mystery in that it is not directly revealed in Old Testament scripture.
Apollos fully understood that John was the voice crying in the wilderness, making ready the way of the Lord (Isa. 40:3). It would seem, however, that he did not fully understand Jesus’ mission to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God. Apollos, while understanding scripture, did not possess the understanding and empowerment which only the Comforter provides.
We meet Aquila and Priscilla in verse 2. The names, Priscilla and Aquila, appear six times in New Testament scripture, always as a married team. Commentators have noted that it is Priscilla and Aquila sometimes and Aquila and Priscilla on other times. Paul met them and abode with them in the city of Corinth when he established a church there during his second missionary journey (v. 3). Historical records reveal the date of their expulsion from Rome to be A.D. 49. Luke does not state when Priscilla and Aquila first believed and were baptized. Because Paul dwelt with the couple for the entirety of his year and a half stay in Corinth (18:11), it is possible, and very likely, that their conversion to Christianity came before meeting Paul and was the result of evangelism that followed the return of Jews and proselytes to Rome after Pentecost (see Acts 2:10, 41).
Luke reveals that Paul chose to take Priscilla and Aquila with him when he departed Corinth for Ephesus (v. 19). Paul’s stay in Ephesus was short but his teaching in the synagogue garnered much interest. When he sailed to go to Jerusalem, Priscilla and Aquila remained at Ephesus.
In verse 26, Aquila and Priscilla meet Apollos at Ephesus. They heard Apollos speak boldly and teach diligently in the synagogue. As stated earlier, we know that Apollos would have proclaimed the message of John the Baptist. He would have proclaimed the need to repent and receive the Messiah whom the prophets said should come. Aquila and Priscilla, a tentmaker and his wife, knew that which Apollos did not. They were moved to take him aside and to expound unto him “the way of God more perfectly.”
God’s way is made known in the Old Testament in Isaiah 53:10-12. It pleased the Lord to bruise the Messiah and make His soul an offering for sin and be made intercession for transgressors. The Old Testament does not fully reveal the love that moved the Father to bruise His Son. The Comforter makes the Father’s love known with clarity. The Holy Spirit moved the Apostle John to write: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
Apollos listened to and received that which the tentmaker and his wife said. He was empowered to expound the way of God more perfectly. After leaving Ephesus, Apollo journeyed to Corinth (Achaia) where he helped them who believed through grace (v. 27) and he convinced Jews that Jesus is the Christ whom the scripture speak. Apollos helped the Gentile believers (them who believed through grace) by expounding upon scripture. He convinced Jews that Jesus was the Christ by expounding upon scripture. Apollos was made a more fitting vessel by God. God used Priscilla and Aquila for His purposes — first at Corinth and then at Ephesus.
God has placed this account in His word to show us that He uses the lowly to boost them whom He has chosen. God used a tentmaker and his wife to help both Paul and Apollos. Can God not use all who willingly submit themselves to Him? Is this not our reasonable service (Rom. 12:1)?
