I’ve often wondered, why you cannot find many couples in the New Testament? Now, the Old Testament tells us about a great number of couples. You have Abraham and Sarah, Adam and Eve, and a host of other famous couples. But when you move to the New Testament, about the only couple that stands out is Mary and Joseph, and even Joseph disappears at some point, and Mary’s left as a single woman at the Cross.
I feel pretty sure that Paul was married, because to be a Pharisee I understand you had to be married. But, his wife is never mentioned. Perhaps she deserted him when he became a follower of Jesus. I am pretty sure the Jewish religious leaders would have supported her in that decision. We know that Peter was married. We know this because his mother-in-law had a fever, and Jesus healed her. There is just not much in the New Testament about couples. But, if you look hard, you will find one special couple. And the more you look, the more powerful they become. The more obvious it becomes that there was more to their marriage than just a physical union.
Actually, it is quite apparent that there was a divine assignment and mission attached to this couple. I noticed something else. Every time their name is mentioned, it’s together. They’re mentioned eight times in the Bible, and every time, their names are mentioned together. Their names are Priscilla and Aquila.
To be mentioned eight times in the Bible, you might assume they were important people. Yet, it doesn’t seem that way at all. They don’t appear to have a publicly famous ministry. They did not sing in church that we are aware of. They did not preach. They did not perform any miracles, but apparently whatever they did, they did it together. It is apparent they had a profound mission attached to their marriage.
If you’re going to make it together, you must be aware that there are forces trying to pull you apart. The enemy knows that there is a mission attached to every marriage. There’s more to it than just making love. There’s more to it than just living together. There’s more to it than living in the same house and raising kids. There is always a special mission that God has for your marriage.
Priscilla and Aquila, show us a remarkable example of what our marriages are supposed to be. God puts couples together on purpose and for a purpose. We’re joined together in ministry. Sometimes it will be the husband helping the wife in her ministry and sometimes it will be the wife helping the husband in his ministry. Sometimes you will be co-laborers in the same ministry. That’s just how it works.
God allowed Sherry and I, out of billions of people on the earth, to meet and receive the gift of love and get married. Of course, you can’t have a marriage without two funerals, two people dying to self, and becoming one. He made us different to make us one.
When we first hear of Priscilla and Aquila they are newlyweds, and living in Rome. Aquila was a Jew, he got saved in Jerusalem. He then goes to Rome, and when he gets to Rome, he meets a Greek girl, and he falls in love with her. They were from different religions. They also had different backgrounds. She was a pagan, but he apparently won her to the Lord. And now, they’re living as a young couple in Rome. But Rome is in a bit of turmoil. There is racial tension, as the Romans despised the Jews. The hatred was so strong that Emperor Claudius ordered all Jews to be expelled from the city.
Therefore, this young couple, who were now both Christians, are forced into an unjust and brutal situation. They were compelled to leave everything that they had. They end up going to Corinth to establish another home. This was a big deal for the young couple, and here’s the point. They had a chance to allow bitterness to get in their heart in that moment. They had a chance to allow unforgiveness against the people who had done something to them that was unjust. That could have destroyed their ministry, because one of the greatest enemies of the mission that God has for our marriages is bitterness and unforgiveness. Sometimes it can come from the outside, or it can come from inside of your own marriage. When the enemy wants to destroy the mission of a couple, he comes with his favorite weapons, bitterness and unforgiveness. But Christ-centered couples don’t fall into this trap. Their mission drives them to a greater place of destiny.
So, they leave Rome, and now, this young couple moves to Corinth, and while they’re in Corinth, something amazing happens. There happens to be a guy in town by the name of Paul. Very few people have ever heard of him in Corinth, and those that had, didn’t really care for him. He has recently had an encounter with Jesus Christ. It had been reported that he has stopped killing Christians and God is doing a great work in his life. He doesn’t have anywhere to live, he’s gone through such a transformation that all of his peers, his Pharisee friends, have kicked him out. He’s homeless, and we are told in Acts 18 that this special couple takes this unknown guy into their home. They found room in their house and in their hearts, and Paul lived with them for 18 months.
Finally, in Acts 19 we are told that Paul felt led by the Spirit to leave them and go to Ephesus. Ephesus was a wicked city, but revival breaks out and the whole city turns to God. The Bible said they turned from their idols, and Paul sends for Priscilla and Aquila to come and help him start the church in Ephesus. The Bible tells us that they came to the city, found a house, and turned their new home into the first church in Ephesus. And now we have the whole Book of Ephesians and all the miracles that God did, in part because a couple obeyed God and opened up their home. Of course, just like you and I, they had to go to work every day, they had to pay bills, they had to put food on the table, later they probably had to raise kids, and yes, they had struggles just like us. Yet, they were committed to the ministry.
Just think, all those great lessons we learn in the book of Ephesians were first heard in the church that was in their house. And while they were there, a guy by the name of Apollos, came to their home. He was a great speaker, but he only knew of the baptism of John. He had never heard of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that Aquila and Priscilla, after he gave a speech, pulled him off to the side of the pulpit, and laid hands on him, said, “We want to show you a better way.” And when they laid hands on him the Bible said he was filled with the Spirit and began to preach. Are you beginning to see what God can do through a power couple?
And then, something tragic happened. There was a guy by the name of Nero who didn’t like what was going on in Ephesus. And so, he burned the whole city down and blamed it on the Christians. Their home was burned also. And now, they’re being forced to leave Ephesus and go back to Corinth. But, when the fires come, and when the troubles come, and when the issues of life come, when bad things come, when you’ve got a mission to your marriage, you just grab hold of each other and say, “We’re gonna make it through this, because God is with us, and He’s got a mission on our life.”
But here’s what got me. This simple couple, had such a touch of God and a mission assigned to their marriage that in Romans 16, Paul said. “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers (co-workers—help meets) in Christ.” That’s a very important phrase. Paul is using the same word that Jesus used when He said He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Paul tells us that this power couple did not pastor a mega-church, they didn’t have a television ministry, and they weren’t in a musical band. They were not famous for anything spiritual, they were simple folks, but there was such a touch and such a mission on that couple, on their marriage, that they became co-equal with Paul in the ministry.
Paul basically says, “When I look back over my ministry, when I look at how God has used me, I have to say, one of the reasons I have been able to do what I’ve done, write all these books in the Bible, and start these churches by the power of the Holy Spirit, is because my helpers were a power couple.” They had more than a passing love that threw in the towel when the thrill was gone. But they made it through the fire and the burning of their house. They made it through being done wrong and the temptation to be bitter.
Furthermore, Paul goes on to say:
“Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.”
Romans 6:4
That means they were almost killed for Paul’s sake. Many theologians believe it was when Paul was placed him in a basket to escape his enemies. Do you remember that? Assassins were knocking on the door, and perhaps it was this very couple that puts him in a basket. They’ve got half the New Testament, they’ve got numerous churches, they’ve got the gospel message that has saved millions, swinging in a basket on the end of a rope. Guess who’s probably holding that rope? It is a couple with a mission, a power couple. And Paul as he is writing his final good byes writes a greeting to this power couple, and he says, “Your marriage was so important in my life that I see you as co-equal with everything I’ve done for the cause of Christ.” Oh, how I want that kind of purpose on my marriage. I want that kind of purpose on my family. I want that kind of purpose in my home.
I believe our Lord is reminding all married couples that He has put you together for a purpose. Even if the circumstances that brought you together were not perfect in God’s eyes, He makes all things new and even now He can renew and strengthen your relationship. He can heal your family, if it needs to be healed. He can establish or empower your mission; you just need to place Him at the center of your home and your marriage.
Remember, marriage isn’t a duet, it’s a trio. It’s man, its woman, and it’s Jesus Christ intertwined as the glue holding the two together, making the two one. And it is so powerful and so holy, that God even likened the husband-and-wife relationship to Christ and His bride, the church.
Maybe somewhere along the line you have forgotten that as a couple you have a mission. It is my prayer that as you celebrate this Valentine’s Season, you might be reminded of the distinct possibility that God has ordained you and your spouse to be a Power Couple for the Kingdom.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry for over forty-five years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries and Christian Bible College