Chapter 18

(I am still quite unwell, so apologies if this installment isn’t as insightful as normal. I’ll try and go back and fix it later . . )

I find the last part of Chapter 18 very interesting at a personal level simply because (as I mentioned when talking about the city of Troas) I have actually visited Ephesus and walked around the remains of the city. Parts of it have been restored so that you can really get an idea of what it was like when Paul visited there all those years ago.

I know Christ said “blessed are those who do not see and yet still believe”, but boy-oh-boy, it’s hard to disbelieve when you realize that those stones you are walking on may well be the ones supporting the weight of Paul himself, and that building over there may have been there when he was there. It kind of blows your mind.

Anyways, let’s get into it. Chapter 18 begins with Paul’s visit to the city of Corinth. There’s a certain poignancy to this, because we know from reading his letters to this city that not all went well with this church. So this visit happened in happier times. To me it’s a little disturbing when I read verses 8-11 referring to a great many Corinthians becoming believers and being baptized. We know that this is eventually going to come back and bite Paul on the rear end – read 1 Cor 1: 14 - 16!

But that’s in the future, and right now Paul and Silas are enjoying rip-roaring successes in Corinth. He begins an association with Priscilla and Aquila here which is significant, because they are mentioned as leaders of the church in Paul’s letters. Apparently these two were a bit of a power-house couple. Noteworthy is the fact that, from the fact that generally Priscilla is mentioned first whenever their names come up, some have argued (reasonably in my opinion) that of the two it was really Priscilla who was the gifted leader. Anyway, it’s clear that they’re an important part of the ministry here in Corinth. Which is really going gangbusters.

So much so that, once again, they make some enemies. This time, the enemies are sufficiently organized to take him before the local proconsul, Gallio. This might have been a great move had Gallio simply not cared. As far as he was concerned this was just yet another split amongst the fractious Jews, and they could sort it all out themselves.

I have to admit to finding this moment a little amusing – just imagine the looks on everyone’s faces when they realize that they’ve got up a full head of steam for precisely jack! Talk about taking the wind out of their sails!

It’s no great surprise that Sosthenes receives a beating from his disappointed constituency, and somehow I can’t really bring myself to feel sorry for him. Note that the Proconsul was watching and did nothing; I wonder if he was finding the whole thing rather entertaining!

The next bit, of Paul visiting Ephesus, appears to describe rather a whistle-stop tour of the city, but it’s still significant because we are brought face to face with another major player in the early church, namely Apollos. Not much about him has survived; only a few references to his excellent ability as a speaker and apologist. And we know that he was discipled by Priscilla and Aquila.

What does the present day Christian extract from all this?

The hard part is not so much finding an application for this passage – there are several – but more finding applications which are not found throughout the preceding chapters.

There is one, though, one which I could have brought up previously but did not; so let’s have a look at that one. The issue I am referring to here is DISCIPLESHIP.

Individualistic people of today really dislike discipleship, at least in terms of being discipled by others. We would rather blaze our own trails and make our own mistakes. But in thinking in this way we miss out on an awful lot.

The simple fact is that Christians in the English speaking world (at least; I can’t speak for others) tend to re-invent the wheel. It’s foolish in that we miss a lot of wisdom. But there’s a worse part to this – as well as being foolish, it’s also the antithesis of being a Christian.

I say this because as Christians we are called to be humble. The ultimate expression of humility is bowing to someone else, and that is exactly what being a Christian is all about – submitting your will to the will of Christ!

We have enough trouble with submitting to Christ, truth be told. But it’s a practical necessity, if we are to make the best fist of being a Christian that’s possible, we need to be willing to listen to those who have gone before.

This is a hard thing for me. My image of myself is of a person who knows his Bible backwards. I quite smugly tell others that I have read the Bible cover to cover.

But do I apply what I read? Sometimes I don’t. And if that’s the case, then according to James 1:23 and 24 I am the worst kind of fool! (This is partly my aim in creating this commentary – my objective is to ensure that I make the application clear, and in so doing to ensure that I know what I am asked to do.

I have spent the majority of this application point on US being discipled by OTHERS. But there’s another side to it – just as we are to have the humility to ACCEPT discipleship, we need to be prepared to OFFER it. And not just accidentally, it should be something deliberate.

Ultimately there is a cycle in discipleship – we are discipled, we disciple others and we teach them to do the same. If we can get our heads around THAT, then the Church will ultimately grow. We all want that, so let’s get out there and do it!