The Bible is full of fascinating stories about human relationships, including friendships. In fact, stories of friendships are demonstrated throughout the Old and New Testaments. God wants us to have relationships — not just of the marital and familial kind but deep and abiding friendships as well. True friendship provides us with support, love and enjoyment and is nothing short of a gift from God.
Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, met the Apostle Paul when he visited Corinth in A.D. 50. The three became committed friends, traveling companions and servants of Christ.
The story of these friends is told in the Bible in Acts 18. This trio of remarkable people demonstrates how a common cause as well as loyalty to each other makes the best of friends.
Aquila, a Christian Jew, and Priscilla had come to Corinth from Italy as victims of Roman persecution. The emperor had expelled all Jews from Rome, and Jews knew it was unsafe to remain in Italy. The couple found their way to Corinth and settled there while working as tentmakers. When Paul, a tentmaker himself, came to Corinth, he went to see them, having heard of their faith in Christ. Paul ended up living and working with them while founding the Corinthian church. They opened their home to Paul and the trio lived as a family.
After a year and a half, Paul left for Ephesus and asked Aquila and Priscilla to come with him. The couple went and they established a church in their home in Ephesus. While in Ephesus, Aquila and Priscilla ministered to the townspeople about the love of Christ.
These two remarkable people set an example of hospitality, seen in opening their home to Paul and using their house as a meeting place for the church. They demonstrated their loyalty to Paul by following him to Ephesus and establishing a church there to continue his ministry.
Another outstanding example of the enduring friendship between Paul, Priscilla and Aquila was their desire to continue Paul’s ministry as he had wanted. Paul’s last reference about them was in his last letter. Paul was imprisoned in Rome and writing to Timothy one last time. Timothy was pastoring the church at Ephesus, and Aquila and Priscilla were there with him, still ministering. Faithfully, Aquila and Priscilla were offering hospitality to other Christians, spreading the gospel they had learned from Paul and offering their faithful service the Lord.
