Acts 19:7

‘'And they were in all about twelve men.'

The men to whom this happened numbered ‘about twelve' (when citing numbers Luke always says ‘about'). The clear purpose of mentioning ‘twelve' here is to link these new believers with the new Israel founded on the twelve Apostles (Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 21:14). They are now Christ's men and members of the Israel of God. They have been established on the foundation of the Apostles. But there may be a further significance in the figure. They may have been the leaders in Ephesus, similar to the twelve Apostles, of a larger contingent of disciples of John (it is difficult to conceive of the possibility that there could only be twelve men baptised by John in a prominent place like Ephesus so near to Jerusalem. John's impact had been huge). If so the word of God would now go back to these earnest already half-converted Jews so that they would come to be baptised and would become a part of what follows.

There seems little doubt that one main reason that Luke had for describing this incident was precisely because it was a kind of re-enactment of Pentecost. There too those who had been baptised by John received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and prophesied. It was a seal on Paul's ministry preparatory for what was to come.

Note on The Followers of John.

The death, resurrection and enthronement of Jesus necessarily brought about a difficult situation for us as we look at the New Testament. To us believers are simply those who believe in the crucified and risen Christ and are thereby saved. But of course at that point in time there were large numbers of true ‘believers' who knew nothing about His death and resurrection. Many were humble Jewish believers around the world who loved God and sought to walk with Him, fulfilling all the requirements of their faith, similar to those described in Luke 1:2. Especially there were many who had listened to John the Baptiser and had responded to his message and were seeking to live by it, looking forward to the One Whom he had promised as coming. Some would even have heard him after he began specifically to point to Jesus. All these people did not immediately become ‘disenfranchised' from the grace of God by the resurrection. Their genuineness would only be tested when they were brought face to face with the Good News at the mouth of a Spirit inspired man. Until that time they were seen by God as true believers, for he knew their hearts. And he knew that when they did hear the Good News they would respond wholeheartedly. Thus these were truly ‘disciples' here and they were true believers. It is just that Paul was privileged to bring them from the light that they enjoyed to the greater light of the Light of the world.

End of note.