SUNDAY: Bible Study - 9:00 AM | Worship - 10:00 AM | PM Worship - 6:00 PM WEDNESDAY: Bible Class - 7:00 PM ~ 8110 Signal Hill Road Manassas, Virginia | Office Phone: 703.368.2622

Priscilla AquilaWe spent some time talking about Priscilla and Aquila in Bible Class last Sunday.  We were wrapping up a study of Romans, and they feature prominently in chapter 16. Paul greets them, the church that meets at their house, and commends them for “risking their necks” for him and for other brethren. It is interesting that they are back in Rome, for when we meet them for the first time they have recently been expelled from the city following the Decree of Claudius (A.D. 49). In Acts 18.1-4, Paul finds himself in Corinth where he meets a Jew from Pontus named Aquila, and his wife Priscilla. They have been expelled from Rome. Aquila practices the same trade as Paul, so they decide to work together.  Over the years and over the pages of the New Testament we meet them six times.

They seem to function as Paul’s advance team for a while, heading to Ephesus before he does, and staying on to work with him there. Then it seems they serve as trouble shooters. When Corinth is having its terrible problems they are there hosting a congregation in their home (I Corinthians 16.19). When the Church at Rome is dealing with their tensions Priscilla and Aquila are back, hosting a congregation in their home (Romans 16.3-5). When the congregation at Ephesus experiences difficulties, and have a young preacher, they are there also (II Timothy 4.19).

Who are they? Well, Aquila (his name means “Eagle”), is a Jew from Pontus. Pontus is a city on the southern shore of the Black Sea. “Priscilla” is a diminutive form of the family name “Prisca” (i.e. “little Prisca”). The Prisca were a noble, wealthy family of Rome. Her name would most likely indicate that she was from this family.  That might explain why her name is given priority 4 of the 5 times they are mentioned together.  What I want to know is: How did they meet, fall in love, and marry?  Boy met girl. How and where? How did a working class Jewish boy from the Black Sea meet and court a rich Roman girl from the Palatine Hill?

I like to think they met at church. Where else in Rome would they be likely to cross paths?  We know from Acts 17.12 that noble women were among the early converts to Christianity. So were devout Jews from the diaspora. I look forward to asking them to share their story when I meet them in heaven.

Am I foolish to think I will have the chance to hear their story? Paul says in I Corinthians 13.12 that we will know even as we are known. I assume from this that there will be no unanswered questions, and no strangers in heaven.

Then again Jesus says that in heaven, people are not married or given in marriage but are like the angels (Matthew 22.30). We cannot fully know what “like the angels” means, but Jesus is clear that our human labels, ties, and relationships are transcended in heaven.  Would I even find Priscilla and Aquila as Priscilla and Aquila in heaven? I think not.

I think, especially after reading Revelation 5, that in God’s presence nothing else matters but His presence.  In it we are overwhelmed and we express our awe in songs of blissful praise. Nothing else can compete. Nothing else can exist. There is only God’s presence - His light, His love, and the transcendent joy we enjoy in His ambient Self.


            Boy met girl. Boy married girl. Boy and girl became children of God. Nothing else matters.

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