Acts 18:25

Was instructed. Gr. katecheo, “to sound down upon,” and, by extension, “to teach orally.” The word, from which comes the English “catechize,” implies that Apollos had been taught by someone, in addition to his own study of the OT. We know from Josephus (Antiquities xviii. 5.2) that the teaching and baptism of John produced a great effect among the Jews. It is not surprising, therefore, that Jews appeared at Jerusalem and Ephesus who had accepted the Baptist’s teaching about Jesus. But such instruction was undoubtedly brief. They would know that John baptized in preparation for the coming kingdom, and they would have heard of his pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and of the voice from heaven when He was baptized. But John had been beheaded a little while after this, and Jesus had met death on Calvary. Many of John’s disciples might not have known what happened in relation to the message of Christ afterward — the establishing of His church, the ordinances of Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the teaching concerning conversion following repentance, and the reception of the gift of salvation by grace through faith. John the Baptist himself but dimly understood what Jesus was presenting along these lines, for there came a day when he sent to ask the Lord, “Art thou he that should come?” (Matt. 11:3). The way. There was much that anyone walking in the “way” of John would need to know concerning the “way” of the Lord. The phrase is used in a half-technical sense, as in the phrase “any of this way” (see on ch. 9:2), as equivalent to what today would be called the Christian religion. Fervent in the spirit. Or, “ardent in spirit” (cf. Rom. 12:11, where likewise the word “spirit” means the spirit of man, not the Holy Spirit of God). Spake and taught diligently. Rather, “was [or “began”] speaking and teaching accurately.” The things of the Lord. The expression “the way of the Lord” is a translation of OT words (Isa. 40:3), quoted by the gospel writers concerning John’s preaching (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23). Apollos may have been very accurate in proclaiming what John had preached about the coming of the kingdom of heaven, illustrated from his own studies of the OT. He may have shown how John had pointed to Jesus, and may have related much of the works and words of Christ, as an evidence that God was sending greater prophets than the Jews had had for a long time, and that therefore Christ’s life was a testimony that redemption was near. But Apollos’ teacher, whoever he had been, had not carried his pupil beyond the message of the Baptist, who acknowledged Jesus as the Christ. The latter would therefore no doubt seem to Apollos to be the leader of a glorified Judaism, which would retain the distinctive features of the old religion. Doubtless he had not as yet learned that “circumcision is nothing” (1 Cor. 7:19; cf. Gal. 5:6), and did not realize that the sacrificial system was “ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:13). Knowing. Gr. epistamai, “to be versed in,” “to be acquainted with.” The baptism of John. Under “baptism” must be included the idea of the religious knowledge and experience for which the baptism was the introduction. The words are full of interest, showing that the work of John the Baptist as a forerunner of Christ had reached farther than the gospel story indicates. Certainly it had reached to Alexandria. Concerning the limitations of this “baptism” see comment above on “was instructed.”