Paul had preached on the Areopagite in Athens and some “joined him and believed.” Paul then travels to Corinth, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia (Greece). Silas and Timothy join him later.
In Corinth
Read Acts 18:1-4
Corinth: In Paul’s day, Corinth was a city known for its moral depravity. It was a wealthy commercial center that gathered people of every stripe from all over the Roman Empire, including traders, hucksters, sailors, and slaves. We learn about Corinth’s reputation from the contemporary language of Paul’s day: The term “Corinthian girl” referred to a woman who was a prostitute and the verb korinthiazomai, “to Corinthianize,” meant to engage in some type of illicit sex.
While in Corinth, Paul meets Aquila, whose home province was Pontus, which was in eastern Bithynia (see map below). Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 AD and Aquila and Priscilla were among those who had to leave.
The ancient historian, Suetonius, mentioned this event, saying that the expulsion happened because the Jews fought about a certain “Chrestus,” which is probably a misspelling of the Latin name for Christ, Christus.
- In Acts 17:2-3, Paul “discussed . . . opening up . . . and placing before” others that Jesus was the Messiah from the Scriptures, showing that it wasn’t up to him to make others believe. And yet in Acts 18:4, he tried to “persuade Jews and Greeks.” Can these be reconciled?
Read Acts 18:5-6
The ESV translation reads, “When Silas and Timothy arrived… Paul was occupied with the word.” This makes it seem that Paul was “occupied” with the word when they arrived. The ESV doesn’t translate the Greek de, “but”: “But when Silas and Timothy arrived… Paul was occupied with the word.” This contrasts verses 5 and 4, showing that after Silas and Timothy arrived, Paul was then able to devote more time to preaching and teaching. This must mean that Timothy and Silas brought money with them for Paul not to need money from his tent making.
- How did the Jews receive the word Paul brought them?
- What did Paul then do?
Paul shook out his garments. That act was similar to the instructions Jesus gave to the 70, whom He had sent out once during His ministry: “When you enter a town and the people don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet in protest against you!’” (Luke 10:10-11). With that gesture, Paul then declared what Prophet Ezekiel taught (Ezekiel 3:17-21, 18:13, and 33:7-9): “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent.” By paraphrasing the Prophet Ezekiel, Paul’s final words and actions also became another “teaching moment” for the Jews there.
Read Acts 18:7-8
- Where then did Paul go to preach and teach?
- Who then believed?
- What else accompanied the preached Word? (vs. 8)
Excursus: Baptism of Everyone in a Household
Most of the baptisms that the New Testament mentions were adult baptisms. This shouldn’t surprise us since many then were received into the Church as adults. We should not, however, see this emphasis on adult baptism as somehow implying that infant baptisms didn’t also take place. The New Testament says many times that the entire household of a new believer was baptized, which surely could have included children and infants (Acts 10:48, 16:15, and 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16).
Ignatius, a student of the Apostle John, reflected the worldview that children were obviously part of such households: “I greet the household of my brothers with their wives and children” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 13:1). St. Irenaeus of Lyons, the most-important theologian in the 2nd century, was a student of Polycarp, who was a student of the Apostle John. He wrote, “For he [Jesus] came to save all people through himself, all who would be born from above to God: infants, toddlers, young children, adults, and the elderly” (Against Heresies, 2, 22:4).
Early Church theologians from different geographical areas–Irenaeus (early 2nd century – 202 AD), Hippolytus (170–235 AD), and Origen (185-254 AD)–have stated that infant baptism was a teaching and practice that they inherited from the Apostles, not a later development within the Church.
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Read Acts 18:9-11
- What did God do for the Apostle Paul?
In the Old Testament, God gave similar reassurances to Isaac (Genesis 26:2-4), Moses (Numbers 21:34), and Joshua (Joshua 8:1).
- Based on what we’ve learned about Paul’s experiences, why do you think God told Paul that?
- What then did Paul do?
Read Acts 18:12-17
- What did the Jews try to do?
- How did their approach differ from what the Jews did in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-9)?
- What was the result?
- Why do you think the Jew would beat up Sosthenes?
Sosthenes: Sosthenes was not a common name. Because of that, the Sosthenes whom Luke mentioned most likely became a pastor and, with Paul, also a co-writer of 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:1). He was the second synagogue ruler in Corinth, after Crispus (Acts 18:8), to become a Christian. Because the Jews saw both Crispus and Sosthenes as betraying what it meant to be a Jew, it’s easy to see why they became so angry.
Return to Antioch (in Syria)
After being in Corinth for “a year and a half” to help establish and strengthen the congregation there, Paul bids farewell and sails for Antioch, where he had begun his missionary journey (Acts 15:40-41).
Read Acts 18:18-22
- What was the situation with Paul at Cenchreae?
The vow Paul made was probably a form of the Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:1-21), which one made in thanksgiving to God for delivering him from danger. It included not cutting one’s hair (Numbers 6:5); but when completed, the person would shave the hair off his head. Then the vow-taker would take the hair with him to Jerusalem and “put it on the fire under the fellowship offering” (Numbers 6:18). We don’t know much of this Paul carried out as he was now living under the New Covenant.
- What did Paul promise to the Ephesians, if God allowed it?
Verse 22 states that after landing in Caesarea, Paul “went up and greeted the church.” Based on the way Jews talked about “going up” to Jerusalem and that Paul greeted the church, he made a short stop in Jerusalem before returning from his missionary journey to Antioch.
Paul’s Third Missionary Journey Begins
Read Acts 18:23
Luke sandwiches Paul leaving Ephesus and a man from Ephesus with only two verses in between those events: Acts 18:22-23. And yet, we can see that a lot took place in those two verses. Despite that, Luke gives us the sense that Paul wanted to return to Ephesus as soon as he could. First, Luke recorded what happened with the fewest amount of words, leaving out all the rest. Second, Luke used a series of participles, all in succession, to help convey the sense haste that Paul had when he traveled.
To help you get a feel for hurried travel, here is pastor’s translation of Acts 18:22-23:
Coming to Cesarea, he [Paul] was going up and greeting the church, going down to Antioch, and spending some time there, he was going out, passing through the Galatian country and Phrygia successively, strengthening all the disciples.
But once Luke starts telling us about that man from Ephesus, Apollos, the narrative slows down, back to more of what we’re used to in Acts. Luke is letting us know that much will happen in Ephesus and that He will record those events for us.
Apollos in Ephesus
Read Acts 18:24-25
- How did Apollos know what He knew?
- How does this become an example for our knowing the truths of the Faith?
- Why would only knowing the baptism of John be a major gap in his knowledge of the faith?
Read Acts 18:26-28
- Who helped correct Apollos’ incomplete knowledge of the Faith?
- How did the beginnings of a congregation in Ephesus send Apollos to Corinth?
- How did Apollos help those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah?
Paul in Ephesus
Read Acts 19:1-4
- Why would this foundling church that Paul came upon not know about the Holy Spirit and had only received “John’s baptism”?
- Why did John’s baptism no longer serve a purpose?
