December 3 (Daily reading: 1 Corinthians 15-16) The story of Aquila and Priscilla is an encouragement to any couple who aspires to serve the Lord together. Paul met them when he arrived in Corinth on his second missionary journey. They had been exiled from Rome with other Jews and were working in Corinth as tentmakers. Paul knew this same trade and so they stayed and worked together. Paul likely introduced them to Jesus. They later went with Paul to Ephesus. While they were there, Apollos, an educated man who knew the scriptures arrived in Ephesus and began preaching about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila invited him into their home, where they privately “explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Ac. 18:26). They were laypersons, but they did not hesitate to lead a gifted speaker to a deeper knowledge of the gospel of Jesus. Their words of advice were effective, because when Apollos went to Achaia, “he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (Ac. 18:28).
Paul was in Ephesus when he wrote to the Corinthians: “Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house” (1 Cor.16:19). Prisca was an affectionate nickname for Priscilla. This greeting indicates that a house church met in their home in Ephesus. When Paul ended his Roman letter, he revealed how courageous Aquila and Priscilla were. At some point, according to Paul, they had “risked their own necks” for him. They had also made the decision to return to Rome, where Christians were being persecuted. Paul wrote: “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus…also greet the church that is in their house” (Rom. 16:3-5). This couple served the Lord together, and wherever they lived, their home became a church where the gospel of Jesus was preached, even when it was dangerous!
– Al Gary
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