Aquila, Priscilla and Paul – colleagues and friends

Xanthe Galanis

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.

Romans 16:3-5

 I love discovering people in the Bible who made a difference. Priscilla and Aquila were a couple who worked together and ministered together. Paul met them when he arrived in Corinth and found them to be truly friendly companions. Like Paul, they were also tentmakers, so Paul worked with them and stayed with them.

Paul had just come from Athens where he had been alone waiting for Silas and Timothy and distressed at a city full of idols (Acts 17:16-32). What a blessing to find such warm and loving friends and colleauges in Corinth! It's no surprise that the three of them formed an immediate bond.

It wasn't their secular work, however, that cemented this bond – it was the work they did together for Christ. In no time at all it seems they became very active in Paul's ministry. These three friends threw themselves whole-heartedly into building the church at Corinth. When he eventually left Corinth for Syria, Priscilla and Aquila went with him. Eventually they parted, but neither their friendship nor their ministry was over.

When Paul writes to Rome he asks the Roman church to give his greetings to Aquila and Priscilla and to the church that is meeting in their home. Together, this husband and wife team had opened their home to their brothers and sisters in Christ; a wonderful example of Christian hospitality, friendship and community.

Their friendship with Paul continued for the rest of Paul's life. Shortly before Paul's death, he sends a brief and hurried letter to Timothy. He has limited time, but he still tells Timothy to “Greet Priscilla and Aquila…” At the very end, he remembers those with whom he has worked and served and become the truest of friends.

Prayer: Thank you Father for the example of these three friends. Let me be this kind of friend, in my family and in my church, so that you may be glorified. Amen.