Acts 19:26-28 26And this man began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27And when he wanted to cross over to Achaia, encouraging him, the brothers wrote to the disciples to welcome him; when he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews publicly, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
Apollos knew Scripture and could effectively make the intellectual connections between prophecy and Jesus. Yet, something was lacking. Intellect and excitement are not enough. Priscilla and Aquila explained the deeper truths of the gospel. The way of God could be another way to explain the full gospel of transformation through the deeper work of the Holy Spirit. When Apollos made the connections with greater understanding and saw his need for a deeper experience of God’s ways, he became a powerful voice, even speaking boldly in the synagogue. God can use people like Apollos who are highly educated and gifted at speaking. It takes a lot of hard work and study to reach that point. An education is useful, but needs to be merged with spiritual experience.
For some unknown reason, Apollos wanted to go to Corinth. It could be possible that Priscilla and Aquila had piqued Apollos’ interest by telling of their experiences in Corinth. The need for leadership there may have sparked a desire and call in his life to go there to help. The small but growing church in Ephesus encouraged him in this vision and wrote a letter of recommendation, which confirmed his character and qualifications. Such letters of introduction were common and important in the ancient world. Apollos did journey to Corinth and had an effective ministry there, which is further described in 1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4–6, 22; 4:6. He especially had significant influence among the Jews of the synagogue. As far as the text indicates, Apollos had not yet met Paul. According to 1 Corinthians 16:12, at some point, Apollos returned to Ephesus, where he joined Paul in the ministry there. Apollos is an example of the value of education and the blessing of God’s gifts merged together into an effective, apologetic, and teaching ministry.