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Priscilla & Aquila · Lesson 3 of 3

My Fellow Workers in Christ Jesus

Rom 16:3-5 · Read 2 min · think and write 20 min

← Priscilla & Aquila For leaders

The last lesson read that “He came to Ephesus, and he left them there” (Acts 18:19); when Apollos came, “they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26).

This lesson reads from one of Paul’s letters. At its beginning he writes “to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (Rom 1:7). At its end, Paul greets people one by one, and among them are these two.

Read TogetherRom 16:3-5

3Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

4who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.

5Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ.

Think It Through

What do you see?

  1. Whom does Paul greet? What does he call them? (v. 3)
  2. What does Paul say they did for him? Besides Paul, who gives thanks for them? (v. 4)
  3. What else does Paul greet? (v. 5)
  4. In these verses, how many times does Paul speak of giving thanks? Who gives thanks for whom? (v. 4)

If I were there

  1. Imagine you are one of those who met in their house (v. 5), reading the lines in Paul’s letter that greet them (vv. 3–5). What would you be thinking? (The passage does not record anything those who met there said or thought. This question asks you to put yourself in their place.)
  2. Imagine you are Priscilla or Aquila: you read that Paul calls you “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3), and says that you “risked their own necks for my life” (v. 4). What would you be thinking? (The passage does not record what was in their hearts. This question asks you to put yourself in their place.)

What is God like?

  1. “My fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3). Reading the words ‘in Christ Jesus’, what comes to mind?
  2. “To whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles” (v. 4). Reading this, what comes to mind?

What does this mean for me?

  1. Paul greets “the assembly that is in their house” (v. 5). Have you ever, in someone’s home, prayed, read the Bible and eaten together with brothers and sisters? What did that home give you?
  2. Look back over these three lessons — they left Rome and came to Corinth only ‘recently’, and there “he lived with them and worked” (Acts 18:3); in Ephesus, when they heard Apollos, “they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26); and in his letter Paul calls them “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3). Which moment makes you most want to stop and look a little longer?

Notes

Greetings. “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3). This is Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome; in the long list of greetings at its end are the names of these two.

Fellow workers. Paul calls them “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3). Lesson 1 read that in Corinth “he lived with them and worked” (Acts 18:3); what Paul speaks of here is working together ‘in Christ Jesus’.

Their own necks. They “risked their own necks for my life” (v. 4). What that was, and where, the passage does not say.

All the assemblies of the Gentiles. “To whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles” (v. 4). Paul was not the only one who gave thanks for them.

The assembly in their house. “Greet the assembly that is in their house” (v. 5). Paul greets them, and he also greets the assembly that met in their house.

Another letter. Paul’s letter to Timothy also says, at its end: “Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus” (2 Tim 4:19). After this, the New Testament does not name them again.

For Them Then

Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth says, at its end: “Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in their house” (1 Cor 16:19).

Readers can see this: in the letter to Rome, too, Paul says “Greet the assembly that is in their house” (v. 5).

For You Today

Perhaps you feel that what you do is very small: opening the door for someone to come in and sit down, giving someone a hand, listening to someone until they have finished. Hardly anyone knows, and you don’t think of it as serving at all.

This lesson does not say that if you do these things you will surely be remembered; nor does it say that those who have no home to open cannot serve. What it shows you is this: Paul greets them as “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3); “to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles” (v. 4); and in their house there was an assembly (v. 5).

This week: Think of someone who has worked alongside you and helped you on your way of faith. This week, pray for this person, and then write a few lines to tell them that you are thankful for them.

Scripture: World English Bible.