Tuesday, April 14th

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Tuesday, April 14

Acts 18:1-3

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

In 1983 Steve Jobs had a vision for a new kind of technology but needed someone to help run his young company. He successfully recruited John Scully, a top executive with Pepsico with this pitch:

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

Scully couldn’t resist and joined Jobs at Apple.

By the time we get to Acts 18, Paul is well into his second missionary journey and 15-20 years into his calling to take the gospel of Jesus to the gentile world. He has also learned the importance of building a team to share that great task.

Where once he traveled with Barnabas and John Mark (back in the first missionary journey of Acts 13-14), he now travels with Silas and Timothy (who will rejoin him in a few verses).

But here we see Paul adding two more key team members, Priscilla and Aquila. Now Priscilla and Aquila are unique not just because they are a married couple, but because they represent the two main people groups of the ancient world. Priscilla is a Roman name and some scholars believe the name indicates she came from a very prominent Roman family. Aquila is also a Roman name but Luke clearly identifies him as a “Jewish man.” So we can assume that Aquila was from a Jewish background but had been given or taken a Roman name because he lived in Rome.  This is unique because it would have been very unusual in that time for a Jewish man to be married to a Roman woman.

They were also unique in that it appears they were followers of Jesus, Christians, before meeting up with the Apostle Paul.

Luke tell us they had traveled to Corinth because the Roman Emperor at the time, Claudius, had “commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.”

But how can we know they were already followers of Jesus? Historians believe that Claudius became concerned about the Jewish community because of the dispute that had arisen between Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah and those who did not. Claudius wasn’t concerned about the details of what he saw as a religious conflict but was greatly concerned to keep the peace and order of his city. So he attempted to expel all Jews just to rid himself of the problem.

So Priscilla and Aquila wind up in Corinth, setting out to make a living through the trade of “tentmaking.” Interestingly, the New Testament tells us that Paul was also skilled in this trade, and used it to support himself at various times.

One can imagine several ways in which Paul may have met Priscilla and Aquila: through the local synagogue where many of the Jews who followed Jesus would meet for fellowship and prayer; or through tentmaking, as they would have had that in common as well.

Either way, Paul quickly recognizes the unique gifts that this couple would bring to his team, so he recruits them to join the ministry in Corinth. So begins one of the most significant friendships in the New Testament.

Writing several years later, in Romans 16:3, Paul acknowledges that this couple put their lives on the line for him and for the sake of the gospel.

Some also believe that Priscilla and Aquila’s relationship as husband and wife may have served as the inspiration for some of Paul’s teaching on marriage in Ephesians 5.

This part of the story prompts me to ask an important question.

What has God invested in you that makes you a valuable addition to the team (i.e. the church)? Priscilla and Aquila had unique family and cultural backgrounds as well as unique life experience that made them extremely important members of Paul’s team. In the same way, scripture indicates that God has also invested in each one of us so that we can, in turn, contribute to the ministry of the gospel.

In Romans 12 Paul writes:

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:6-8)

In other words, we are all called to invest our lives for the sake of the gospel, and to allow God to use us to change the world.

Pastor Brian Coffey