Ae – The Founding of the Church of Ephesus Acts 18: 23-28

The Founding of the Church of Ephesus
Acts 18: 23-28

52-53 AD

The Founding of the church of Ephesus DIG: These verses sum up a lot of traveling. How far did Paul travel at this time? What do you make of his companions Priscilla and Aquila? What kind of a man was Apollos? What type of influence did Apollos have in Achaia, specifically Corinth (see verses 27-28)? How effective would he be in the intellectual circles?

REFLECT: Who was very helpful to you when you were young and enthusiastic about your faith? How did this person help? Who are you helping now? How? Where do you sense God has equipped you to serve? How can you do so this week? How does your place of worship balance evangelism with the strengthening and equipping of believers? What makes one preacher or Bible teacher more “popular” than another? And which of these attributes should have little or nothing to do with how accepted their teaching is?

Ephesus was a commercial center, a legal center, and a religious center.

After spending some time in Antioch, probably from the early summer of 52 AD to the early spring of 53 AD, and having doubtless given his church a full account of his Second Missionary Journey (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Bu – Paul’s Second Missionary Journey), Paul departed from there, on what proved to be his Third Missionary Journey (see Acts Ce – Paul’s Third Missionary Journey). His ultimate destination was Ephesus. He had been prevented from going there before (16:6). He had to cut his first visit there short (Acts 18:20) and was eager to begin his mission in the city. Nevertheless, his desire for the new ministry did not prevent him from neglecting the old.⁶ Paul returned to his former fields and further ministered from one place after another throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, and discipled all the believers (Acts 18:23). In this one verse Luke summarizes about 1,500 miles of travel. Luke does not give us all the cities Paul visited, but what he does tell us is that when traveling through this region Paul discipled all the churches that were planted during the First Missionary Journey (see Acts Bm – Paul’s First Missionary Journey). In any case, this trip through the Cilician gates and on to Ephesus would have happened during the summer of 53 AD when the passage through the gates was possible.

Ephesus was a deceptively beautiful metropolis. The magnificent temple to the fertility goddess Artemis – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – dominated the skyline and religious social and economic life (see Acts Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus). No sensual pleasure was denied. It was a world financial center. Dreams of material success and affluence captured the minds and consumed the energies of its populace. All the happiness money could buy was at their fingertips.

But when the early believers looked at Ephesus, they saw something very different. They saw a culture of fear barely veiled by the architectural, artistic, and sensual beauty on display. Messiah’s followers saw a half a million souls trapped in a Satan-dominated world of necromancy, occultism, witchcraft, and useless worship of a lifeless, powerless goddess. Magic symbols and incantations failed to give them control over their world. Their false worship failed to connect them to the One True God. Nearly the entire population lived on a treadmill of superstition, confusion and terror. Into this environment walked Paul.⁷

With the knowledge that Paul was making his way towards Ephesus, Luke fills in the background to the events that had been taking place in his absence. Now a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, Egypt, where a million Jews lived, came to Ephesus. Highly educated, he was well-versed in the TaNaKh. A skilled speaker, he was a fiery, courageous preacher. A student of John the Baptist, Apollos knew the basics about Yeshua, but he lacked some important facts needed to effectively communicate the Gospel.

While not its capital (Pergamum was the province’s official capital), Ephesus was the most important city in Asia Minor. In fact, since the Roman governor lived there, it could be argued that Ephesus was the de facto capital. It had a natural harbor situated at the mouth of the Cayster River on a gulf of the Aegean Sea.⁸ Located on the main highway, Ephesus connected the Four great trade routes in the east, and as a result, it was the main commercial center of Asia. In fact, no better site could have been picked for the evangelization of all of Asia Minor than Ephesus. The seven churches there (see the commentary on Revelation Ay – Write, Therefore, What Is Now) may well have owed their origin to Paul’s Ephesian ministry.⁹

The city’s theater, where Paul and his companions were dragged (Acts 19:29), seated some 25,000 people. Athletic events, rivaling the Olympic games, were held in a stadium there. As a free city, it was granted self-government by Rome and no Roman troops were stationed there. It also served as a legal center in which the Romans tried important cases and dispensed justice on a regular basis.¹⁰

It was also a religious center. The cult of emperor worship was very strong there, and temples were built for Claudius, Hadrian and Severus. No matter what gods they worshiped, each individual was required to swear allegiance to Cesar as the supreme lord over all. It was also known for its magical arts and was one of the centers of occultism. It had long been the home of the Mother Goddess, who was identified by the Greeks as Artemis, or Diana in Latin (Acts 19:35). To this goddess was dedicated a huge temple that was known as one of the wonders of the ancient world with a tree of “salvation” in the midst of it. About four times the size of the Parthenon, it was 425 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 60 feet high. It had 127 marble pillars, 36 of them overlaid with gold and jewels. Because its inner shrine was supposedly sacred, this temple served as one of the most important banks in the Mediterranean world. The temple also provided sanctuary from criminals. Further, the sale of little idols used in the worship of Artemis provided an important source of income for the city (Acts 19:24). Every spring a month-long festival was held in honor of the goddess, complete with athletic, dramatic and musical events.¹¹

The worship of Artemis was unspeakably evil. Sexual immorality was rampant in Ephesus, and it was one of the most immoral cities of the ancient world. This temple also became the site of the worship of the goddess Roma and of the Roman Emperor.¹² Thousands of priestesses, who were little more than ritual prostitutes, played a major role in the worship of Artemis. The temple grounds were a chaotic scene made up of priests, prostitutes, bankers, criminals, musicians, dancers and frenzied, hysterical worshipers. The philosopher Heraclitus was called the weeping philosopher because he said no one could live in Ephesus and not weep over its immorality. Huddled in the midst of such pagan idolatry that characterized Ephesus, was a group of faithful believers. It was to them that the Messiah addressed the first of His seven letters (see Revelation Az – The Church at Ephesus).¹³

Apollos (a shortened form of Apollonius) was a learned man, well versed in the Scriptures. He had been orally instructed in the way of the Lord in general as far as the TaNaKh was concerned. With a fervent spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the facts about Yeshua – while only being acquainted with the immersion of John. This fervent scholar exploded like a bombshell on Corinth’s unconverted Jewish community. But what was his message? First, John was the forerunner of the Messiah; Secondly, John has pointed out that Yeshua was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bm – John Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God); and thirdly, he knew that Yeshua was the Messiah. So, Apollos did not have believers’ immersion, only John’s back to God immersion. However, this man began speaking out boldly in the synagogue (Acts 18:24-26a). In other words, he was faithful in what he knew. His error was not understanding about believers’ immersion.

Priscilla and Aquila had remained in Ephesus to carry on the ministry until Paul returned (Acts 18:18ff). Evidently the ministry there had not yet extended beyond the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos’ preaching, they immediately took him aside privately and explained the way of God concerning immersion more accurately (Acts 18:26b). The fact that both Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos is significant. Both men and women can have the New Covenant gift of teaching. When Paul writes: I do not permit a woman to teach (First Timothy 2:12a), he uses the present infinitive, and is not forbidding a woman to teach universally. In other words, he does not forbid all teaching, but because the present tense is used, Paul is saying, don’t become the teacher. Priscilla was not Apollos’ sole teacher, she taught alongside her husband (even though it seems counterintuitive, see the commentary on Genesis Lv – Women and Spiritual Gifts). Additionally, Luke wishes to show the variety of roles women played in the early Church. Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see Acts Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry), and Priscilla was one of them. After that, Apollos was an unstoppable apologist for Messiah.

Once he understood about believers’ immersion, Apollos wanted to cross over the region of Achaia on his way to where Corinth (19:1) and Athens were located. The brothers in Ephesus encouraged him and wrote a letter of recommendation to the believers in Corinth to welcome him. Upon arrival, he greatly helped those who by grace had believed (1 Cor 3:5-6 and 4:6). Apollos’ power in scriptural interpretation (Acts 18:24) suited him for debate with the Jews of Corinth. Much like Peter with the Jews of Jerusalem (see Acts An – Peter Speaks to the Shavu’ot Crowd), he would have used the TaNaKh to demonstrate that the Messiah must suffer and be raised from the dead, which was, in the final analysis, the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures.¹⁴ And he also powerfully refuted (Greek: diakatelencheto, meaning to overwhelm someone in an argument) the Jewish people in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Messiah was Yeshua (Acts 18:27-28).

God is wooing people to His table for the meat of His Word like never before. He is joyfully using many different methods and styles to accomplish His goal of equipping His Church to be effective and holy during difficult days. God has raised up many fine teachers and preachers for our day. Let’s reap the benefit of as many as possible and value their contributions whether they are magnetic like Apollos, analytical like Luke, forthright like Paul, or warm like Priscilla and Aquila.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for You are Awesome Always! You wisely sent John the Baptist as the forerunner of Messiah to prepare people’s hearts for the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. The first step of drawing near to God is to turn from our sins, there is so much more to life than turning away from sin. There is also a drawing near into the intimate relationship with God as our Lord and Savior. How wonderful that when someone turns from loving themselves as first in their lives to trusting Messiah as first place in their lives – You adopt them as your child (Ephesians 1:4-5). Children have special places in families. They are loved and cared for and watched over. You love, watch over and care for Your children. John’s baptism was good and important to show people that they needed to turn away from wrong and then be united to God as his child when they believed/ trusted in him (John 1:12, Romans 10:9-10).

Wow! What a privilege to be God’s child! Being a child of God means being united into the family of God and also united to Messiah in his glorious resurrection! John could only immerse people as a turning from their sins, but Messiah’s immersion is an immersion of unity. Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death – in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become joined together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also will be joined together in His resurrection. . . Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him (Romans 6:3-5, 8). To have had only John’s baptism of remission of sins is a good start, but God has so much more in your offer to adopt as your sons thru the blood of Messiah (Ephesians 1:7) those who love/ believe in You. You are an awesome father! In Yeshua Messiah’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen