Hidden Heroes Of Faith: Priscilla Series

Earlier this week, I went home for lunch like I always do. While there, I saw my Mom was calling. I picked up the phone and she let me know that she had bad news. My Uncle had committed suicide. What do you even do with information like that? Where do you even begin? My mind began swirling going in one direction to another to another. Yet, even though I couldn’t formulate the words with my mouth at the time, still in the back of my mind there was something like a glimmer of peace. Even though my thoughts bounced around from my pain, to the pain his young daughters must have been feeling, or that of his parents, my grandparents, somehow there was something else very much present. It felt very much like the eye surrounded by a storm.

How could that ever have been? It is definitely not because I am such a great man with such a great faith. I can tell you with certainty that if it were solely up to me, I would’ve been lost and confused. My own mind was being tossed around as if in a twister. No, rather this glimmer of peace came from somewhere else. It came externally. It did not mean that I was not hurting, or that I did not have questions, but it is as if someone had took hold of me and anchored me down even though I still felt as if I were being thrown about.

What, though, could ever hope to anchor someone in the midst of something so bad? The answer to that is Jesus. And Jesus alone. You see, way back when, and throughout all of my life, people, other Christians, have told me about him and his story. And although at that moment I could not think about everything I had learned about Jesus, I remembered that hymn I was once taught. I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb, especially the line, “even calls me by my name.” In spite of my own struggles, the Spirit helped me remember that line. And he comforted me with the fact that yes, he does know my uncle's name. Just as he knows mine, and my family's name, and all of us who are hurting. Just as he knows your name, something you can remember when you’re hurting next time too.

But, there is no way I would’ve ever remembered something so comforting if I had never been taught. I would have never figured that out by myself. I would’ve only been lost in my own pain with nothing to anchor me down. Someone had to tell me.

Which leads us to our lesson. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.

Apollos had learned a great deal about God. He knew these teachings all the way up until John the Baptist. And, having been convinced of them by the Holy Spirit, he taught others about all these wonderful truths so that they too might be able to have what he had. While he was speaking, a certain couple heard him. They were named Priscilla and Aquila. And they realized that although Apollos knew much about God, he still had not heard the best part.

Rather than call him out in front of all the people, they invited him to their home. There, instead of berating him for his ignorance, they more fully explained what had happened. Namely, that God’s story had not stopped with John the Baptist. Rather, there was another, yes, even the one who was promised. The Messiah, the Anointed One, God’s chosen servant and God’s own Son, Jesus. The one he had promised would come to save his people Israel. They also would have taught that not only had this Jesus come, but he had fulfilled all of his Father’s will. He lived a perfect life in our place, always obedient. He taught others about himself and the salvation he would bring. He instituted the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion that we might have physical and visible evidence of his love on top of what he would leave us in the Scriptures. And then, greatest of all, this Jesus gave up his life for us, only to raise from the dead to prove that his sacrifice was worthy, and to forge a new path of life after death. Eternal life.

There, this husband and wife team taught Apollos all about the Christ, both so that he may know his Savior, and that he might go out and tell others all about him too. Which, if you follow Apollos in the bible, you will see that he served faithfully in this capacity.