Romans 16:1-16
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. (vv. 3-4) Prisca (Pricilla) and Aquila, Aquila and Prisca. Yeah, another day of tying things together! We met back in Acts 18. They were tentmakers in Corinth and Paul stayed with them. Then he took them to Ephesus with him and they stayed there while he went on to Jerusalem. Now we find them in Rome. So, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome…! Three of the leading churches in the northern Mediterranean world, and Prisca and Aquila are tied to all three!
But there is also another aspect of their ministry that shows up in today’s reading. Verse 5a says Greet also the church in their house. Paul is writing to the Romans, so Prisca and Aquila have a church meeting in their house in Rome. What’s interesting about this item is that I Corinthians 16:19 also recognizes that Aquila and Prisca host a church that meets in their house: The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. Here Paul is writing to the Corinthians (in Greece/Achaia) from Ephesus/Asia with a note of greeting from the Prisca/Aquila house-church in Ephesus. Beyond those two recorded house-churches in Rome and Ephesus, I have no doubt that Aquila and Prisca also hosted a house-church in Corinth. No wonder …all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks [for them] as well!
Finally, Prisca and Aquila are mentioned one more time in Paul’s letters, in II Timothy 4:19. What a ministry they must have had!!
Slava Bohu!