What does Acts 19:1 mean?
Paul has finally reached Ephesus for an extended stay. He had wanted to come years before, but was prohibited from teaching in Asia, the western-most province in modern-day Turkey, by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6–10). Instead, God gave Paul a vision through which he understood he was to go to Macedonia. Paul was able to visit Ephesus for a very short time at the end of that trip but wanted to return to Jerusalem as quickly as possible (Acts 18:19–21).When Paul came to Ephesus during his first stop, he brought Priscilla and Aquila with him. The couple were refugees from emperor Claudius' persecution of the Jews in Rome and had met Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:1–3). Paul left them in Ephesus where they met Apollos, a very learned and gifted Jewish speaker from Alexandria. Apollos knew of the baptism of repentance preached by John the Baptist and some things about Jesus, but he apparently hadn't heard about the salvation Jesus offered. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and fully explained how Jesus was the Messiah. Apollos accepted their explanation, became a powerful witness for Christ, and took Paul's place in Corinth (Acts 18:24–28).
The "disciples" Paul meets also follow John the Baptist; it's unclear if they learned about him from Apollos's earlier ministry or from going to Judea and meeting John personally. They respond to Jesus' story in the same way Apollos had. John was the last of the Old Testament-era prophets. His job since birth was to prepare the world for the coming of the Messiah. He preached that people needed to repent from their sins: to realize their actions were contrary to the will of God and to determine to change how they lived, believing in Jesus (John 1:19–28). Hundreds—perhaps thousands—heeded his call, including Jesus' future disciples Andrew and Peter (John 1:40–42). Now, decades after Jesus ascended into heaven, John's message is still preparing the way of the Lord (Luke 3:4).
