Priscilla
Priscilla and Aquila were a first-century Christian missionary married couple described in the New Testament. They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul, who described them as his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus." Aquila is traditionally listed among the Seventy Disciples.
People have asked the following questions in the past:
1. What did Paul say about Priscilla and Aquilla?
Sometime after being expelled from the capital city, it appears they have returned! As if this was not courageous enough, Paul notes that Priscilla and Aquila "risked their necks for me"; "Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek" (Acts 16:3).
Apollos also benefitted from Priscilla and Aquila, as did Paul, for it says in Acts 18:26, "He (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately." Priscilla and Aquila Expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. In my opinion, Apollo's position was about that of the disciples of the Lord before the Great Commission was given. He had the Gospel in part but needed to be shown the way of the Lord "more perfectly." The two missionaries supplied this need and equipped him for gospel work. He spake - Privately; and taught publicly. Probably he returned to live at Alexandria soon after John had baptized him; and so had no opportunity of being fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel, as delivered by Christ and his apostles. He who knows Christ can instruct even those mighty in the Scriptures.
"After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. Furthermore, he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who recently came from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius 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 (also Paul's trade). Moreover, he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks." (Acts 18:1-4, ESV)
"After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae, he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. But on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus (Acts 18:18-21).
2. God uses difficult seasons and circumstances to advance His plan.
God's plan includes all of his children recognizing their kingdom commission and call. We are called to:
Show hospitality
Help build the church
Disciple leaders
Leave comfort behind
3. Why does the kingdom of God need tentmakers.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
Did you know that there are 49 different women named in the Bible? Even if you think you can name them all, brushing up on the stories of the women is a great place to start for any person of faith.
Perhaps all of us owe a debt to the earnest work of Priscilla and Aquila. In Romans 16:3, Paul says, "Not only I, but all of the churches of the Gentiles are grateful for [Priscilla and Aquila]." Their lives were testimonies of God's faithfulness to the refugee, the worker, the obedient, and the wise. Furthermore, around the Mediterranean, their work was recognized.
It says in Acts 18:26, "He (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately." Priscilla and Aquila Expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. In my opinion, Apollo's position was about that of the disciples of the Lord before the Great Commission was given. He had the Gospel in part but needed to be shown the way of the Lord "more perfectly." The two missionaries supplied this need and equipped him for gospel work. He spake - Privately; and taught publicly. Probably he returned to live at Alexandria soon after John had baptized him; and so had no opportunity of being fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel, as delivered by Christ and his apostles. He who knows Christ can instruct even those mighty in the Scriptures.
I wonder if, whenever he sat down to write 2 Corinthians, Paul might also have been thinking about Priscilla and Aquila. Perhaps he was reflecting on the good old days around the tentmaking table. Maybe in the sewing, the cutting, the praying, and the planning, he found a bit of perspective on his life:
"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. For a while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life" (2 Corinthians 5:3-4).
See, when you are a tentmaker, constantly patching holes, always repairing tears, always setting up and taking down, you long for something more. You long to see people in crisis be rescued. Your heart burns for the next generation of believers. You look to a heavenly home and know that your life is always in Christ. You can see that someday, what you have stitched and sewn, where you have invested, and the stakes you have sunk—as fleeting as they seem now—will matter forever.
Furthermore, that is worth giving whatever it takes.
Note: Read the article "Aquila and Priscilla" along with his one to glean more information on these two early Christians.
