Reflecting on early Christians

Apollos is an interesting early Christian. He came from Alexandria, a baptised Jewish convert (by John presumably in the Jordan); probably also a Pharisee like Paul as he is described as well versed in scripture. The only scripture at that time being the Hebrew scriptures.

Apollos must have been a seeker and quite determined to find meaning in his life. I deduced this because from his place of birth he travelled all the way to the Jordan river to investigate the unusual person of John, the Baptist! John baptised and proclaimed Jesus as Messiah - pointing to him so that even his own disciples followed Jesus.

Apollos was instructed in the Way of Jesus so he must have spent time with other disciples - perhaps even with Jesus himself.

Acts describes Apollos as an eloquent man.

He had obviously, after his baptism, discerned that he ought to travel and take the word to others. This was done effectively yet we know that he had never heard of the Holy Spirit until he arrived in Ephesus. He had probably left the region of the Gallilee and gone further on his travels before the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. He may, by the time he reached Ephesus heard also by word of mouth of these happenings as Acts testifies that he was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus.

In Ephesus, he meets Priscilla and Aquila who gave him further instruction in the Way. This was when he "received" an anointing by them and was confirmed in the Holy Spirit. He vigorously refuted the Jews in public in Achaia and was easily able to identify from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

He also did not have any need to take instructions from any perceived 'apostles'. He was his own person as is testified by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:12: Now in regard to our brother Apollos, I urged him strongly to go to you with the brothers, but it was not at all his will that he go now. He will go when he has an opportunity. (NAB)

The reason I have found Apollos so interesting because he is an example of one God uses to get his plan of salvation across. Apollos is very much a self-made Apostle, one of the building blocks of Christianity in a gentile world. In the strict sense of the term one cannot call him an apostle as the root meaning of the word is 'one who has witnessed personally and been sent'.

Paul named himself apostle and we don't dispute this because he had met and heard Jesus personally before the Passion - although Paul was on the other side of the fence at the time. Paul's experience on the road to Damascus, his recognition of Jesus as the voice speaking to him, his subsequent experience with Ananias, all cofirm to us his unquestioned right to be called apostle.

The fact that it was a married couple who anointed Apollos is also of great interest. One has to allow that they did anoint him which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit because they were qualified to complete his education in the Way.

So much goes contrary to the straight line of apostolic tradition that the church teaches.

Apollos has no such recorded experience; according to accounts, he operated purely from the response to an inner call to discipleship in the name of Jesus, the Messiah.