Be a Supportive Companion

KEY VERSE: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.” —Romans 16:3,4, New International Version

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:1-4, 18, 19, 24-26; Romans 16:3-5

AMONG THE PROMINENT persons in the Early Church was a married couple—Priscilla and Aquila—both of whom became vitally involved in the church’s mission. As Jews they had been banned from Rome during the reign of Claudius, and they moved to Corinth where they practiced their trade of tentmaking. It was because of these circumstances that Paul met them. Paul was also a tentmaker by trade, and wherever he went, he always went to the synagogue, if one was available in the city. We are not told whether Priscilla and Aquila already knew something about the Gospel message when in Rome, or whether they learned of it from Paul. In any event, their home in Corinth became Paul’s home.

Priscilla and Aquila worked with Paul in their common trade of tentmaking, and cooperated with Paul in his ministry. When Paul left Corinth after eighteen months, to go to Jerusalem by way of Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila went with him to establish a new home in Ephesus. During Paul’s stopover, he preached the Gospel message of Jesus Christ in the synagogue at Ephesus. Although the Jews wanted to hear more of what he was saying, he had to leave for Jerusalem.

But Priscilla and Aquila continued to go to the synagogue in Paul’s absence. It was there that they met Apollos, a learned man, well versed in the Scriptures—an eloquent speaker who taught about Jesus; but he only knew the baptism of John. Aquila and his wife embraced what he was doing, and “invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.” (Acts 18:26, NIV) They saw in Apollos an opportunity to extend the ministry of the Early Church. When Apollos wanted to go to Corinth they apprised him of the brethren in that city, and wrote asking the church at Corinth to welcome him.

Another trait displayed by this pair was flexibility in their service to the Lord. In Corinth they opened their home to Paul; and when Paul returned from Jerusalem and Antioch to Ephesus, they allowed Paul to use their house as a base of operations for the ministry. Priscilla and Aquila, as consecrated brethren, were eager to offer the use of their home as a meeting place for the brethren. All along the way—at each turn of events—we see that couple giving freely of their resources to the work of the Early Church. The power of the Spirit of Christ in their lives produced a seemingly boundless generosity and a remarkable willingness to share what they had with others.

Their dedication to do the Lord’s will also led to tests of courage. When they moved with Paul to Ephesus they risked their lives to assist Paul as he faced the perils of a mob riot and were most likely threatened with death if they did not reveal the whereabouts of Paul, as the mob sought to lay hands on him at their home.

Priscilla and Aquila remind us of the importance of faithful, unassuming involvement in the Gospel ministry. Their example prompts us to ask ourselves if we are being supportive companions in the ministry with others.

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