Evangelicia

Alicia's Bible Blog

 

 

Acts 18:1-4. Paul leaves Athens for Corinth and finds a Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla there. Aquila and Priscilla have recently fled to Corinth from Italy because Claudius had ordered all the Jews out of Rome. Paul and Aquila are both tentmakers, so Paul stays with them a while, working with Aquila, and arguing in the synagogues every Sabbath, persuading Jews and Greeks.

 

I looked up some background first, because I was confused about the Jews being expelled from Rome. I learned Emperor Claudius "expelled from Rome all Jews who followed "Chrestus"."* So actually Aquila was expelled from Rome for being a Jew who followed Christ. (The early Christians did not think of themselves as Christians, but as Jews who understood that the Messiah had come, and they didn't yet use the word Christian to differentiate).

 

My initial reaction to this passage was to notice the juxtaposition of the Christians being expelled from Rome against the occupation of Aquila and Paul - they are tentmakers. We use the term "a big tent" to mean that all are welcome, and Christianity is the biggest of tents. The word catholic means "universal" - our tent is so big it will one day include the entire universe!

 

The tents that Paul and Aquila are making are symbols for the growing Church. So while the worldly powers are excluding, expelling, and sometimes even killing these new Christians who threaten the power structure, Christianity's tents - these small, fledgling churches, are there to welcome all in Christ!

 

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