An Eloquent Orator

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts."—Malachi 3:1

Reprinted with permission from Bible Study Monthly, January-February 1981

The reader closed the roll reverently and laid it down. He turned to face his congregation. The eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed upon him.

"This day"—his commanding voice rang out, riveting their attention; "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." His burning eyes swept the building, and the Christian Aquila, seated at the back, leaned forward to listen.

"My brethren, sons of Israel, children of the covenant, heirs of the divine promise to Abraham, to you is this word sent. Woe betide you if you fail to perceive the day of this visitation. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. If you will comprehend it and accept it, you will inherit the promises made to our fathers and enter in; if you reject it, then the Kingdom will be taken from you and given to another people who will bring forth the fruits thereof." Silence reigned. This Egyptian Jew from Alexandria was speaking to them in a manner not normally experienced by these Greek Jews of Ephesus. Their religion meant a great deal to them, surrounded as they were by all kinds of pagan faiths and deities, but in the comfortable exercise of their legalistic rites and rituals they had in measure forgotten the ancient promises which were Israel’s mandate for existence as a people. Now this stranger was awakening half-forgotten memories in their minds, and some among them began to remember that they were, after all, a people for a purpose. Thoughts were broken as the speaker resumed.

"Away there in ancient days the holy prophet Malachi spoke of the time when the most high God shall rise up to judge the nations, deliver his ancient people from oppression, and establish upon earth his own kingdom of everlasting righteousness, the day of Messiah."

He stopped for a moment, his eyes sweeping the audience, mute and attentive before him. "The day of Messiah" he repeated slowly; then "but before Messiah is revealed, there must come his herald, to prepare his way before him, as spake the holy prophet Isaiah ‘the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.’"

He leaned forward, enunciating his words in measured tones, evenly, impressively. "That herald has come; he has appeared in our midst and given his witness. He was for a season a burning and a shining light, and then the powers of this world took him and silenced him— but the witness goes on."

He stood erect, eyes lifted to heaven. "Twenty-five years ago, John, the son of Zacharias, stood forth in the deserts of Judea, the homeland of our people, and proclaimed the imminent coming of the Messiah. There went out to him all Jerusalem and Judea and they were baptized by him in token of repentance and for the remission of sins. The word of God had been fulfilled and God had sent his messenger to declare the coming of the sun of righteousness."

He turned back to his hearers. "And now, although the light has gone, for Herod the king slew him, his message lives on. To this day the disciples of John wait and watch for the coming of the One he preceded. To this day we, of the sons of Israel, wait in expectation that He who shall lead Israel to victory and glory over all enemies will shortly appear, to open to us the Kingdom of Heaven. Though it tarry, said one of old time, wait for it, for it will surely come, it will not tarry. Wait patiently, ye men of Israel, and be ever watchful, that ye may not be taken by surprise at his appearing, for, the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"

Apollos and Aquila

The worshippers streamed out of the synagogue, some thoughtful, some indifferent, some earnestly discussing between themselves. The preacher stood in the doorway for a moment and Aquila, watching, caught his eye. Aquila came forward.

"My name is Aquila; I am a Roman Jew exiled from Rome by decree of the Emperor Claudius" he said simply.

"I am Apollos of Alexandria" came the quiet reply. "I am here to awaken our people to the importance of the signs of the times and to bring them the message and hope of John."

"But that was twenty-five years ago and you have not yet realized the coming of the Lord he heralded" rejoined the other.

A faint shadow crossed Apollos’ features. "There are those of us in Egypt, and some few here in Ephesus, who believe that he will surely come, even as John predicted, though the time be delayed."

"For what do you look? How will you know him when you see him?" asked Aquila.

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty, and in thy majesty ride prosperously. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath." He it is for whom we look, the one who comes as a conquering king, to destroy all evil and bring in everlasting righteousness."

"But is it not also said that he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, brought as a lamb to the slaughter, pouring out his life unto death, so seeing of the travail of his soul and then being satisfied?" urged Aquila gently.

Apollos looked thoughtful.

"I know those words well. I do not understand them. How can the Sent of God beslain; and if he be slain, how can he ever become King?"

"For the transgression of my people was he stricken, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all and with his stripes we are healed!" Aquila quoted the well-known words softly.

"Our iniquities are purged by the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement" returned the other man.

"But can the blood of bulls and goats really take away sin?" ventured Aquila.

A dawning comprehension appeared in the eyes of Apollos. "No—no—, they cannot. Those rituals of olden time can be no more than pictures, shadows, of some greater thing which is yet to be revealed. There must be a greater and more real giving of life that sin may be removed and the blessing come. There must be sacrificial death before kingly glory. Why did I never see that before? The Messiah must come first in suffering and death and afterwards in glory and never-ending life, a royal priest after the order of Melchisedek. But if that is so, how shall we know him when he comes, in lowliness and humiliation such as that?"

"Did you ever see John?" asked Aquila.

"I saw him once, when I was a young man on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I was enthralled and captivated by his message and was baptized by him in Jordan. I returned to Egypt and never saw him again but his teaching has remained with me throughout life."

"Did you ever see Jesus of Nazareth?"

"I later heard that a man called Jesus had been hailed by John as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and as greater than John himself. I did not credit it. To me John was the greatest of the prophets and none could ever excel him. I heard that Jesus had been put to death by the Romans and I did not give him another thought."

"Put to death by the Romans" repeated Aquila thoughtfully. "And the prophet says he was taken from prison and from judgment, and was cut off from the land of the living, and made his grave with the wicked in his death." He was speaking very softly now.

There was a long pause.

"The Lamb of God;" Apollos murmured the words as if to himself and the other could hardly hear him. "The Passover Lamb; only by coming under its blood could the man of Israel be saved. The glory came later, forty years later, when Joshua led the people into the Promised Land. Suffering and death first; afterwards glory and life. Is it then that Messiah must suffer these things first and afterwards enter into his glory?" He paused, thinking deeply. "Then you are telling me that Jesus of Nazareth whom John pointed out is indeed the Messiah, that Messiah has already come and we knew it not?"

An almost imperceptible nod was the answer.

Apollos straightened himself up. The resolute look was back. "I am to read the prophets again next sabbath in the synagogue. I shall read the story of the suffering servant in the book of the holy prophet Isaiah, and I shall preach Jesus."

He looked at Aquila almost beseechingly. "May I come with you to your home to-day. I have much to ask you and much to reflect upon. You may talk and I will listen."

The Acts Account

The entry of Apollos into the Christian community must have been something like that. He first appears in the eighteenth chapter of Acts, just after St. Paul’s first visit to Ephesus. Paul had gone to that city from Corinth, where he had founded a church during the course of his first missionary journey, taking with him Aquila and Priscilla; they settled in Ephesus while Paul continued his journey. There was as yet no Christian community in Ephesus, and the three worshipped and ministered at the Jewish synagogue. Their ministry there seems to have been accepted and appreciated. After Paul’s departure this Apollos made his appearance and seems to have been equally acceptable. He was not a Christian, as were Aquila and Priscilla, but he had accepted the message of John the Baptist and counted himself one of John’s disciples. This fact, together with the presence of a "group" of John’s disciples in Ephesus twenty-five years after his death (Acts 19:3), is an interesting indication of the persistence of his ministry into a second generation, much as a group gathers round some noted minister today and persists for many years after his passing.

Apollos hailed from Alexandria in Egypt, a city where a numerous and powerful Jewish community had existed from much older times. where he eventually became the leader and bishop (presiding elder) of that church.

Increasingly, it is generally agreed that Apollos was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.* The ascription of that Epistle to St. Paul is known to have no valid authority.* While several others have been suggested as the possible writer, the nature of the Epistle, the manifest familiarity of the writer with the Mosaic ceremonies, and various other considerations, point to Apollos as the most likely choice. It is thought that it was addressed to the Jewish believers at Ephesus and written at some time after Paul’s death. It is believed by some scholars that the Apocryphal work known as the "Wisdom of Solomon" was also written by Apollos.

Zealous, active, studious, learned; an eloquent speaker and a fluent writer, this man may well have exercised a much greater influence among the early Christians than the brief allusions to him in the New Testament would suggest. More like St. Paul in many ways than any of the others whose names are more familiar, he may well have been a veritable pillar of the church. If indeed he is the unknown writer of Hebrews, then Christians of all generations, not least we at this present time, owe him, under our Lord, a debt immeasurable beyond words.

* EDITOR’S NOTE: "Luther, and many scholars since, suggested Apollos as the author [of Hebrews]. . . . none is satisfactory, and Origen’s judgment [only God knows] is fully warranted." (Harper’s Bible Commentary, "Hebrews," Harold W. Altridge, p. 1259 [1988]). The majority of the editors of this journal lean toward the authorship of the Apostle Paul.