After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them; and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought; for by their trade they were tentmakers (Acts 18:1-3).
Once again we have a few verses mentioning a particular woman and a boatload of lessons to be learned from her—Priscilla, the wife of Aquila. And that is the first lesson. Aquila and Priscilla were always a team. They worked at a trade together, they taught together (Apollos), and they served together. Even in a time when we know that the apostles often traveled with their wives (1 Cor 9:5), we read nothing of them, not even their names. But Priscilla was right there working next to her man, and everyone knows her name as a result.
Next, she was a woman who had a trade—like Paul, she and her husband made tents. I can imagine the three of them sitting in the agora working on their latest orders, perhaps in one of the very tents they had made. But her work did not stop her from taking in a stranger—for it seems that Paul did not know them before he encountered them. In fact, we do not know whether they were already Christians or he converted them when he met them. If the second, then this new convert did exactly as Lydia did—she immediately began a life of service to others. (See Part 1.) She did not use her work as an excuse not to practice hospitality. And Paul did not come into her home for just one meal; he lived with them for a year and a half. Not only that, they welcomed the church Paul began there into their home (1 Cor 16:19).
Aquila and Priscilla moved a lot. They began life in Pontus, a region along the Black Sea. When I mentioned this in class, one especially industrious lady checked the longitudes and latitudes and discovered that Pontus lay along the same latitudes as our state of Maine! I am sure they saw snow in the winter, something we rarely associate with Bible lands. Somehow they made it to Rome, but were expelled with all the other Jews by Claudius. They then traveled to Corinth where Paul found them, but when he left 18 months later, they went with him to Ephesus. He left them there as he continued his journey but came across them once again back in Rome sometime after the death of Claudius (AD 54). Once again, the church is meeting in their home (Rom 16:3-5). I knew a family who hosted the church in their home, twice on Sundays and once on Wednesday evenings week after week after week. That meant keeping the house up constantly, no letdowns when times got busy and life distracting. No one expected perfection, but there had to be ample places to sit in a configuration for teaching. Eventually they even built a room on the back of their home at their own expense. Aquila and Priscilla at work for the Lord's body in a different generation.
And just like Lydia, Aquila and Priscilla sacrificed their security. …Who for my life laid down their own necks…Rom 16:4. We do not know exactly what they did for Paul, but he considered them life savers in such a way that they could have lost their own. Priscilla did not hide behind her husband's robes. Evidently, she put herself forward for Paul's sake every bit as much as he did, a truly brave woman.
These early Christians we know so little about can easily put us to shame. Here we are complaining about hot (or cold) auditoriums, hard pews, and boring preachers while they lived in so much less wealth and comfort and were willing to give up their things, their homes, their identities, even their lives for the cause of the Lord.
And we have even more of them to study…
Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1John 3:16).
Dene Ward
Once again we have a few verses mentioning a particular woman and a boatload of lessons to be learned from her—Priscilla, the wife of Aquila. And that is the first lesson. Aquila and Priscilla were always a team. They worked at a trade together, they taught together (Apollos), and they served together. Even in a time when we know that the apostles often traveled with their wives (1 Cor 9:5), we read nothing of them, not even their names. But Priscilla was right there working next to her man, and everyone knows her name as a result.
Next, she was a woman who had a trade—like Paul, she and her husband made tents. I can imagine the three of them sitting in the agora working on their latest orders, perhaps in one of the very tents they had made. But her work did not stop her from taking in a stranger—for it seems that Paul did not know them before he encountered them. In fact, we do not know whether they were already Christians or he converted them when he met them. If the second, then this new convert did exactly as Lydia did—she immediately began a life of service to others. (See Part 1.) She did not use her work as an excuse not to practice hospitality. And Paul did not come into her home for just one meal; he lived with them for a year and a half. Not only that, they welcomed the church Paul began there into their home (1 Cor 16:19).
Aquila and Priscilla moved a lot. They began life in Pontus, a region along the Black Sea. When I mentioned this in class, one especially industrious lady checked the longitudes and latitudes and discovered that Pontus lay along the same latitudes as our state of Maine! I am sure they saw snow in the winter, something we rarely associate with Bible lands. Somehow they made it to Rome, but were expelled with all the other Jews by Claudius. They then traveled to Corinth where Paul found them, but when he left 18 months later, they went with him to Ephesus. He left them there as he continued his journey but came across them once again back in Rome sometime after the death of Claudius (AD 54). Once again, the church is meeting in their home (Rom 16:3-5). I knew a family who hosted the church in their home, twice on Sundays and once on Wednesday evenings week after week after week. That meant keeping the house up constantly, no letdowns when times got busy and life distracting. No one expected perfection, but there had to be ample places to sit in a configuration for teaching. Eventually they even built a room on the back of their home at their own expense. Aquila and Priscilla at work for the Lord's body in a different generation.
And just like Lydia, Aquila and Priscilla sacrificed their security. …Who for my life laid down their own necks…Rom 16:4. We do not know exactly what they did for Paul, but he considered them life savers in such a way that they could have lost their own. Priscilla did not hide behind her husband's robes. Evidently, she put herself forward for Paul's sake every bit as much as he did, a truly brave woman.
These early Christians we know so little about can easily put us to shame. Here we are complaining about hot (or cold) auditoriums, hard pews, and boring preachers while they lived in so much less wealth and comfort and were willing to give up their things, their homes, their identities, even their lives for the cause of the Lord.
And we have even more of them to study…
Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1John 3:16).
Dene Ward
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