APOLLOS THE BLESSING
Acts 18:24, 27-28 NKJV
24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.
27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
The scriptures, especially New Testament, do not make a big deal out of people. And by that, I mean that starting with the book of Acts, there are not too many superlatives given to people. When Paul wrote his letters to the churches, he would mention various people. But Paul’s strongest praise went along the lines of faithful servant or fellow soldier. You do not ever read where Paul called anyone a great preacher or teacher. Even when Paul was sending his son in the faith, Timothy, he referred to Timothy as someone like-minded. If anything, Paul greatly played down men and exalted Jesus only.
One of Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church contained a rebuke. These believers formed into camps. One group claimed Paul, another claimed Apollos, and one group identified with Peter. Paul was blunt in declaring that these believers were carnal, flesh-ruled, and acting as mere unchanged men. To Paul, he and Apollos were simply servants through whom the Corinthians had believed in Christ. Jesus is the One who is exalted and is the star; everyone else is supporting cast.
For Luke to speak glowingly of Apollos in our verses for today was a very rare occurrence. And all that was said of Apollos was that he was eloquent and mighty in the scriptures. Apollos evidently was not only a great orator, but he also had a strong working knowledge of the scriptures. His knowledge of the scriptures would prove to be a great help to the Jewish believers.
When Apollos was in Achaia, he was a big blessing to the church. Luke said he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. The Jewish converts to Christ were being verbally attacked by the Jews who still held to Mosaic Law. Without a strong working knowledge of the scriptures these new believers were being pushed and confused. Enter Apollos into the picture.
Apollos helped by vigorously refuting the Jews publicly. Refute means to overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof. Refute is to prove to be false or incorrect. When Apollos showed up, the believers in that region had a new spokesperson. Apollos was vigorous and eloquent, but he was much more. Mighty in the scriptures put him in a position to overthrow the Jews publicly by proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Now, all those Jews who believed in the grace that is in Jesus had a solid scriptural foundation for their faith. Yes, Apollos was a great speaker. But it was his knowledge of the scriptures that helped the Jewish believers.
APPLICATION
Apollos could refute the Jews because he knew the scriptures, and the Jews were big on scriptures. But when Paul was speaking to the Athenians on Mars Hill, he did not reference scriptures. Paul spoke in scriptural terms and in line with scriptural truth but did not tell the Athenians that the scriptures made it so. Paul knew that to a Greek crowd the Jewish scriptures held no value.
When we are speaking to people with a church background, the scriptures hold weight. When we are speaking to those with no church, we have to speak truth based on the scriptures but not expect them to jump on board just because the Bible says so. The stronger we are in the scriptures, the better we are able to reach those from all different backgrounds with the truth.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord Jesus, that I can grow in the scriptures. Help me also grow in my ability to communicate Your truth to people who have no knowledge of You.