Cultivating a Forever Faith: Lessons from Priscilla and Aquila Δείγμα

Courage to Love

In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul again mentions Aquila and Priscilla. This letter was written about seven years after he first met the couple in Corinth. Through the years, the three of them must have experienced many adventures together and endured untold difficulties. You can sense Paul’s respect and affection for his old comrades in faith as he writes to the Roman believers:

“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. Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.” (Romans 16:3-5)

There is an intriguing story behind Paul’s words here. Unfortunately, the Bible never reveals the details of the events to which Paul is referring. We know that Priscilla and Aquila saved his life at considerable risk to their own. But when did this event take place? What happened, exactly? We will have to wait until heaven to find out! All we know for certain is that somewhere between the years in Corinth, Ephesus, and their return to Rome, Priscilla and Aquila had to risk their own safety in order to rescue Paul.

In other words, Priscilla and Aquila were the kind of people who remained faithful in times of trial. They were willing to risk danger for the sake of others. When profound challenges came their way, they didn’t run. They were brave in their faith, courageous in their friendship.

It’s one thing to have the courage to face unexpected challenges in your own personal life, but quite another to be willing to risk your comfort, your well-being, your welfare, all for the sake of a friend. Jesus told his disciples:

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NIV)

Not only were they tempered by trial. Not only did they learn endurance. But according to the Lord Jesus’ own standards, Priscilla and Aquila lived out the greatest love possible for mortals. They displayed the forever love of God. 

Paul was not married. He did not have children. He lived away from most of his family. But we can see that he was greatly loved. I think this is a beautiful reminder of how the church could function. How it could become a place of encouragement and growth and, most of all, a place of selfless Christlike love.

Writing to the believers in Corinth about a year before he wrote to the church in Rome, Paul mentions a situation where his life was in grave danger. A situation that may be the very one in which Priscilla and Aquila saved Paul. He writes:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” (1 Corinthians 1:8-10 NIV)

Once again, Paul does not spell out the exact circumstances that reduced him to such despair. He says that his life had been in great peril in the province of Asia, where the city of Ephesus was located. Could these verses be referring to the time that Priscilla and Aquila “risked their necks” to save his life? We cannot know for certain. 

What we can definitely deduce from these verses is that even someone as faith-filled and mature in the faith as Paul can experience periods of despair. The man who sang songs of praise in a prison cell after being cruelly beaten reached the end of his endurance. 

All of us will face moments of overwhelming pain. The kind of pain that threatens to engulf us. Destroy us. 

What I love about Paul’s testimony here is that this terrible trial only served to wean him away from self-dependence and taught him to place his hope even more deeply in God. Not in his own wisdom. Not in his considerable strength. Not even in his incredible friends and companions. But in God. He exchanged the passing forces of this world for the forever-sufficient power of God.

Prayer

Lord, teach me to love more deeply. Make me a friend who loves at all times. Help me to be courageous in my love. Show me how to set my hope on you.

Additional Verse and Blessing

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

May the love of God fill your inmost being. May it saturate your thoughts, your desires, your dreams. May you see it every time you look in a mirror. May it shape you and form your conclusions about the world and about yourself. May his love flow through you and transform your day.