What does Acts 18:28 mean?
When Paul reached Corinth, he had no idea how different the experience would be. He showed up alone, having left Timothy and Silas in Berea after Thessalonian Jews drove him out. With no others to support his ministry work, he found Aquila and Priscilla, refugees of Claudius's persecution of Jews in Rome. As all three were tentmakers, Paul joined their business during the week and went to the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to convince the Jews and Gentile God-fearers that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures. Some time after Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, the Jews in the synagogue decided they'd heard enough and pushed Paul out. Paul moved to the home of Titius Justus next door to the synagogue, and, with the former synagogue ruler Crispus, started the church (Acts 18:1–8).Besides what was likely Paul's initial loneliness, this story is typical for his missionary journeys. What isn't normal is that God gave him a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people" (Acts 18:9–10). Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth, building up the church before leaving for home (Acts 18:11).
On his return journey, Paul takes Priscilla and Aquila and drops them off at Ephesus before going on. In the synagogue, the couple hear a passionate speaker named Apollos. Apollos knows about John the Baptist's baptism of repentance, and he knows some things about Jesus, but seemingly not how He reconciles His followers to God. Priscilla and Aquila explain to him what he is missing, and Apollos starts preaching about Jesus as powerfully as he had about repentance (Acts 18:24–26).
Not long after, Apollos decides he needs to go to Corinth and build on the church Paul planted. God had told Paul He had many people in Corinth. Paul was not able to reach all of them in eighteen months. Apollos continues the work leading the church and trying to reach the Jews who continue to reject their Messiah. Right now, Paul knows little of Apollos, if anything. Soon, he will consider the man his partner in the building of the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 3:6–9).
Acts 18:24–28 records a short interlude featuring Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. Priscilla and Aquila became fast friends with Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:1–3). When Paul left Corinth, he brought the couple along and stationed them in Ephesus. Apollos is a Jewish teacher from Alexandria who preaches the baptism of repentance that John the Baptist taught (Mark 1:2–8). Apollos knows some about Jesus, but after Priscilla and Aquila explain how He is the Messiah who offers salvation, Apollos becomes a powerful evangelist and continues Paul's work in Corinth.
Acts 18 recounts the end of Paul's second missionary journey. He leaves Athens for Corinth, in southern Greece, and works with Priscilla and Aquila as a tentmaker until Silas and Timothy rejoin him. The team stays eighteen months with no significant pressure. Eventually, Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila sail east to Ephesus. Paul leaves a short time later for Judea and Syrian Antioch before returning to Galatia for his third missionary journey. Meanwhile, Priscilla and Aquilla host the church in Ephesus and train a talented speaker named Apollos to be a minister of Christ.
