Tag Archives: Aquila

THE BOOK OF ACTS – NO BUM

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CHAPTER 18

NO BUM

“After Athens, Paul went to Corinth. That is where he discovered Aquila, a Jew born in Pontus, and his wife, Priscilla. They had just arrived from Italy, part of the general expulsion from Rome ordered by Claudius. Paul moved in with them, and they worked together at their common trade of tent-making. But every Sabbath he was at the meeting place, doing his best to convince both Jews and Greeks about Jesus.” Acts 18:1-4 (The Message).

Paul was a nomad but he certainly was no bum. He had no mission board behind him and no monthly stipend to depend on. He was not ashamed to get his hands dirty to take care of his own needs in the course of his mission. He had not only received a rigorous religious training but he had also learned a skill as a tent-maker, which came in handy to meet his needs and to give him credibility in his ministry.

Having done what he could in Athens to sow the seeds of the gospel, he left behind another small group of believers and moved on to Corinth. God was always one step ahead of him on his journey. Aquila and Priscilla, like-minded fellow-Jews, were already in Corinth and ready to give him a home for as long as he needed to be in the city. They were obviously His provision for Paul during his stay there.

No doubt Paul paid his way during his stay in Corinth and probably used his opportunity to “chat” the gospel to his host and hostess. There is no indication that they were believers when they moved from Rome. To all intents and purposes, the gospel had not yet reached Rome unless through some traveller who had spoken about Jesus in the capital city during a visit there.

At this

point Paul confined his preaching to the Sabbath at the local synagogue. During the week he and his hosts worked together on their tent making, forging close ties of friendship and love that lasted a lifetime.

We have travelled with Paul since his pre-conversion days and walked with him through the shattering experience of a personal encounter with Jesus and the days that followed. He was a man just like us. He made his mistakes, misjudging John Mark, falling out with Barnabas, and had to change his mind in the end, but he was also a man of extraordinary courage and perseverance. Never did he renege on his commitment to follow Jesus and to carry out His commission.

Corinth was a particularly wicked city, as we glean from Luke’s story and from Paul’s letters. The infant church tolerated unacceptable behaviour among its members, probably because it was woven into their culture and they thought nothing of sexual perversion, drunkenness and factions within the church.

No doubt Paul needed to spend an extended period of time with them to teach the church the standards of godliness demanded by their new life. They had no background knowledge of the Scriptures and it fell to Paul to instruct them painstakingly in the ABC’s of the gospel; hence the home of these amicable Jews provided a base for him to operate.

Corinth must have been a learning experience for Paul as well. He learned to be a gracious guest as well as a loving and caring pastor of a church growing in the heart of “Sodom”. He needed patience, tolerance and perseverance to guide the believers away from their old lives of self-indulgence and debauchery to the newness of Christ-indwelt children of God.

We will read Paul’s letters to this church with new understanding when we recognise what he was up against in this city of Satan. God had provided an oasis for him in Aquila and Priscilla’s home and a skill which he shared with his hosts. With that as a jumping off ground, he was able to live out and minister Jesus to the new believers there.

A Postscript

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 A POSTSCRIPT

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of His people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.” Romans 16:1, 2.

Chapter 15 ends with a greeting as though it were the end of the letter. Chapter 16 adds personal details that show Paul’s intimate connection with the Roman church (probably made up of many small house churches), even though the church was not founded by him. It also gives a glimpse of the interconnection between the churches though they were scattered far and wide across the empire.

He also shows us how closely he was allied to the yoke of his Master. Jesus honoured and respected women. He treated them with the same dignity that He treated men. Women were not inferior beings, nor were they second-class citizens, unreliable and at men’s disposal to be at their beck and call. From Jesus’ perspective, women were the crown of His creation, and to be treasured like fragile and delicate bone china.

Phoebe had a servant heart. She was a “deacon” in the church from which she came, not necessarily as an office but as a function. She must have been visiting Rome for some or other reason. It fell to Paul, who knew her and knew the value she was to her local church, to commend her to the Roman congregations so that she would have a home base while she was in their city.

“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house…” Romans 16:3-5.

This is a puzzling verse. Priscilla and Aquila, a Jewish Christian couple, had been expelled from Rome, along with all the Jews in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. They moved to Corinth where Paul met them and stayed with them, working together with them as tentmakers, and preaching every Sabbath in the synagogue (Acts 18:2-4).

At some point, they moved to Ephesus where they met Apollos, a Jewish believer from Alexandria who knew only the baptism of John and whom they instructed more fully in the Scriptures. Apollos became a powerful teacher and ally of Paul in Ephesus

Why were they back in Rome and apparently resident there again? Was it possible that many of the Jews, Priscilla and Aquila included, returned to their old home after Claudius’ death? When Paul reached Rome under Roman guard, he preached to many Jews who came to his home where he was under house arrest (Acts 28:17, 23).

Priscilla and Aquila led a group of believers who met in their home. Paul was eager to pass on his greetings to them because they had meant a great deal to him in his travels and ministry in Europe. Priscilla appears to have been the more prominent of the two since her name is consistently mentioned first.

“…Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.” Romans 16:5b.

What a network of friends and colleagues Paul had across the whole empire, not just converts but dear personal friends whom he remembered with great affection! Probably because the church had become an offence to both Jews and Gentiles, and many superstitions had grown up around this “secret society” including the accusation of cannibalism because of their celebration of the Lord’s death, the believers were isolated and stuck together, doing life together and connecting with each other as they moved around the empire.

They had a “social network” of personal interaction, not on the World Wide Web but of hospitality and letters and messages passed from one to the other to keep them connected and their faith alive as they supported and encouraged one another in a hostile environment. We can learn a great deal from the early church about the meaning of fellowship.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.