19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. 20 All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
First Corinthians now concludes with a string of standard greetings and benedictions.
16:19
The churches of Asia greet you.
Paul wrote First Corinthians from Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia. Evidently, several churches sprang up, during Paul’s time in the capital city of Ephesus, in the outer regions of that city. Some of these churches are listed in Revelation 2 and 3.
Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord,
The husband and wife Aquila and Priscilla were former Jews who became Christians and developed into a mighty ministry team. They moved to Corinth from Rome because of persecution from Claudius (Ac 18:2), where Paul met them. Paul stayed at their house in Corinth for a year and a half (Ac 18:1-3). Then they moved to Ephesus with Paul, settling in the city where they had a church in their house (Ac 18:2, 18-21, 26). Greetings from Aquila and Priscilla were more personal since they were part of the church in Corinth. Aquila and Priscilla influenced Apollos and corrected his view of dispensations (Ac 18:24-26). “In the Lord” refers to all that they have together in Christ.
with the church that is in their house.
Of the six times the names Aquila and Priscilla occur in the New Testament, Priscilla’s name appears first four times. She was a dominant figure in the first-century church. She and her husband worked beautifully together as a team, especially by opening their home in the area of hospitality (Ro 16:3-5). Paul took them to Ephesus with him to help him plant a church in that city. They were involved in ministry wherever they went. Paul sent greetings to Priscilla and Aquila in his last epistle of 2 Timothy (4:19).
16:20
All the brethren greet you.
Paul relays greetings from all the churches at Ephesus and surrounding cities.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
The “holy kiss” was customary among churches. The church introduced the custom of men kissing men and women kissing women in the second century after criticism of erotic behavior from non-Christians. This kiss was a discernible symbol of love among believers. This encouragement to kiss each other must have been quite a challenge to a group of people who were fighting each other.
PRINCIPLE:
Courtesy is a value of Christianity.
APPLICATION:
There are times in ministry where we do not recognize others as we should. A greeting is an indication of personal value.
