Romans 16:1–16. At first glance, this can look like a list of names we might be tempted to skim. But we shouldn't. These names give us a remarkable picture of the actual people who made up the first-century church.
There are Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and probably wealthy householders. Some had suffered. Some had risked their lives. Some opened their homes. Some worked very hard. Paul knew them by name.
A CHURCH MADE OF PEOPLE
Romans 16:1–16
Paul begins:
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae.”
— Romans 16:1
The first person Paul mentions is:
Phoebe.
She is apparently traveling to Rome, and Paul wants the Christians there to:
receive her.
WHO WAS PHOEBE?
Paul calls her:
“Our sister Phoebe.”
First and foremost, she is:
family.
A sister in Christ.
Then Paul calls her a:
“Servant of the church at Cenchreae.”
The Greek word is diakonos.
It can mean:
servant
or
minister.
It is also the word used elsewhere for:
deacon.
Does that prove Phoebe held the formal office of deacon?
Not by itself.
The word can be used more broadly for a servant or minister.
So we should neither:
erase the word
nor
make it prove more than the context proves.
Paul clearly regarded Phoebe as an important and trusted servant of the church.
That's what the text gives us.
PAUL EXPECTS THE CHURCH TO HELP HER
Paul says:
“That you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints.”
— Romans 16:2
Then:
“And help her in whatever she may need from you.”
This sounds very much like a letter of:
recommendation.
Paul is telling the Roman Christians:
You can trust this woman.
Receive her.
Help her.
Then he gives the reason.
PHOEBE HAD HELPED MANY PEOPLE
Paul says:
“For she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.”
The exact force of the Greek word translated patron, helper, or benefactor is discussed.
But Paul's basic point is clear.
Phoebe had provided significant help to:
many people
including:
Paul himself.
She wasn't a name in the background.
She had been an important supporter of Christian work.
DID PHOEBE CARRY ROMANS TO ROME?
It is often suggested that Phoebe carried Paul's letter to Rome.
That is quite possible.
Paul commends her just as the letter is ending, and she apparently is traveling there.
But the text never actually says:
“Phoebe carried this letter.”
So we should distinguish:
a reasonable historical inference
from:
something the text explicitly states.
That's exactly the distinction we have been trying to make throughout these studies.
THEN COME PRISCA AND AQUILA
Paul says:
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 16:3
Prisca is also known as:
Priscilla.
We meet this married couple elsewhere in the New Testament.
They worked with Paul.
They taught Apollos more accurately.
They opened their home to Christians.
Paul calls them:
“My fellow workers.”
Not spectators.
Workers.
THEY RISKED THEIR LIVES FOR PAUL
Paul says:
“Who risked their necks for my life.”
— Romans 16:4
We aren't told exactly what happened.
So again:
don't invent the story.
But something happened in which Priscilla and Aquila placed themselves in serious danger for:
Paul.
Paul had not forgotten it.
A CHURCH MET IN THEIR HOUSE
Paul then says:
“Greet also the church in their house.”
— Romans 16:5
There were no church buildings like the ones familiar to us today.
Christians commonly gathered in:
homes.
Here Paul explicitly calls the group meeting in their home:
“The church.”
The church was not the building.
The church was:
the people.
Their house was simply where those people:
met.
THAT'S WORTH REMEMBERING
We often say:
“I'm going to church.”
Everyone understands what we mean.
But New Testament language reminds us that the church isn't fundamentally:
a place we go.
It is a people to whom:
we belong.
A congregation meeting in someone's living room was still:
the church.
EPAENETUS
Paul says:
“Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.”
Imagine being remembered that way.
The gospel entered a new region.
People began coming to Christ.
And Epaenetus was among:
the first.
Paul remembers him personally.
MARY
Then:
“Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.”
— Romans 16:6
We know almost nothing else about her.
But Paul remembers:
her work.
Notice how often women appear in this chapter as active participants in the work of the church.
Phoebe served.
Priscilla was Paul's fellow worker.
Mary:
worked hard.
Paul doesn't treat their service as insignificant.
ANDRONICUS AND JUNIA
Paul continues:
“Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners.”
— Romans 16:7
They were fellow Jews and apparently had shared imprisonment connected with the gospel.
Paul also says:
“They were in Christ before me.”
That's remarkable.
These people had become Christians:
before Paul did.
They belonged to the earliest generation of believers.
“WELL KNOWN TO THE APOSTLES”
Paul describes them as:
“Well known to the apostles.”
Some translations understand the phrase as:
“prominent among the apostles.”
That difference has generated considerable discussion, especially because Junia is generally understood to be a:
woman.
Does Paul mean Andronicus and Junia were themselves apostles in some broader sense?
Or that they were highly regarded by the apostles?
The Greek expression has been interpreted both ways.
We don't need to make this verse answer a question Paul isn't discussing.
What is certain is that Paul regarded Andronicus and Junia very highly.
They had suffered for Christ.
They were Christians before Paul.
And they were well known among the earliest believers.
THEN THE NAMES KEEP COMING
Paul greets:
Ampliatus.
“My beloved in the Lord.”
Urbanus.
“Our fellow worker in Christ.”
Stachys.
“My beloved.”
Apelles.
“Who is approved in Christ.”
These are not just names to Paul.
These are:
people he loves.
SOME NAMES MAY TELL US SOMETHING
Several names in Romans 16 were common among slaves and freed people in the Roman world.
That doesn't prove the social status of every person listed.
Again, we shouldn't claim more than the evidence allows.
But the list certainly fits what we know about early Christianity:
The church crossed ordinary social boundaries.
People who would occupy very different places in Roman society could become:
brothers and sisters in Christ.
“THOSE WHO BELONG TO THE FAMILY OF ARISTOBULUS”
Paul says:
“Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.”
— Romans 16:10
Interestingly, he doesn't greet Aristobulus himself.
He greets members of his:
household.
Then:
“Greet my kinsman Herodion.”
And:
“Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.”
Again we see:
households.
Christianity was spreading through networks of real people and real homes.
MORE WOMEN WHO “WORKED HARD”
Paul says:
“Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa.”
Then:
“Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.”
— Romans 16:12
Again:
women working in the Lord.
Paul doesn't merely greet them politely.
He recognizes their:
work.
The exact work they did isn't stated.
So we shouldn't invent a job description.
But neither should we overlook what Paul emphasizes:
They worked.
And they worked:
hard.
RUFUS—AND HIS MOTHER
Paul says:
“Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.”
— Romans 16:13
That is wonderfully personal.
Paul doesn't even give us her name.
He simply remembers how she treated him.
She had become like:
a mother to Paul.
For all Paul's theology, missionary travel, debates, persecution, and preaching, he remembers:
a woman who mothered him.
Christian ministry is made of relationships like that.
MORE GROUPS OF CHRISTIANS
Paul greets:
Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
Then:
Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
This may suggest several different groups of Christians meeting around Rome.
Paul has already mentioned:
“The church in their house.”
The picture isn't necessarily one enormous congregation gathered in one building.
It appears to be a network of believers meeting in:
homes and groups.
Yet Paul writes to them collectively as Christians:
in Rome.
“GREET ONE ANOTHER”
Paul concludes:
“Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
— Romans 16:16
The kiss was a culturally recognizable greeting.
Paul calls it:
holy.
It expresses the family relationship Christians now share.
Then:
“All the churches of Christ greet you.”
Notice the plural:
churches of Christ.
Paul is not giving us a denominational title.
He is describing congregations as belonging to:
Christ.
The churches are:
Christ's churches.
LOOK AT THE PEOPLE IN THIS LIST
We have:
Phoebe.
Priscilla and Aquila.
Epaenetus.
Mary.
Andronicus and Junia.
Ampliatus.
Urbanus.
Stachys.
Apelles.
Herodion.
Tryphaena and Tryphosa.
Persis.
Rufus and his mother.
And many others.
Men.
Women.
Married couples.
Households.
Workers.
Travelers.
People who suffered.
People who supported others.
People who opened their homes.
This is what the church looked like:
people serving Christ together.
NOTICE HOW MANY WOMEN PAUL COMMENDS
That deserves attention because sometimes our picture of Paul is shaped more by modern arguments about women than by simply:
reading Paul.
In these sixteen verses, Paul specifically mentions several women.
Phoebe.
Priscilla.
Mary.
Junia.
Tryphaena.
Tryphosa.
Persis.
Rufus's mother.
Julia.
Nereus's sister.
And Paul repeatedly describes women as:
serving,
working,
working hard,
and being his:
fellow workers.
Whatever conclusions we reach about particular roles elsewhere in the New Testament, our conclusions should leave room for what this passage clearly shows:
Women were deeply involved in the work of the first-century church.
We shouldn't make Romans 16 say more than Paul says.
But neither should we make it say:
less.
THIS IS HOW EXEGESIS SHOULD WORK
Phoebe is a good example.
The text calls her:
diakonos.
We shouldn't immediately say:
“That proves she held the formal office of deacon.”
But neither should we immediately say:
“That couldn't possibly mean anything more than an ordinary helper.”
First ask:
What does the word mean?
How does Paul use it elsewhere?
What does this context tell us?
Then draw conclusions.
The same applies to:
Junia.
Don't begin with what our tradition needs the verse to say.
Begin with:
what Paul actually wrote.
That's:
Text B4 Tradition.
THERE IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT LESSON HERE
We remember:
Paul.
But Paul's ministry depended on many people whose names most Christians barely recognize.
Someone provided a home.
Someone traveled.
Someone gave money.
Someone worked.
Someone risked his life.
Someone worked especially hard.
Someone treated Paul like a son.
The gospel spread through:
ordinary Christians doing faithful work.
Not everyone preached to thousands.
Not everyone wrote Scripture.
Not everyone became famous.
But Paul:
remembered their names.
And God preserved many of those names in:
Scripture.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Ask the text:
Who is the first person Paul commends?
Phoebe.
How does he describe her?
A sister and a:
“Servant of the church at Cenchreae.”
Does the verse by itself settle whether she held a formal office?
No.
We should not make the word prove more than its context proves.
Who were Paul's fellow workers who risked their lives for him?
Priscilla and Aquila.
Where did a church meet?
“In their house.”
Were women actively involved in the work of the early church?
Clearly:
yes.
Does Paul tell us exactly what every one of them did?
No.
So don't invent what the text doesn't tell us.
What do all these names remind us?
The church isn't an institution made of buildings and programs.
It is:
people.
Paul now has one final warning before his greetings are finished.
After spending two chapters telling Christians how to live with disagreements, he warns them about something very different:
people who deliberately create divisions and obstacles contrary to apostolic teaching.
Those people are not simply the “weak” Christians of Romans 14.
Paul says:
watch out for them.
NEXT: WATCH OUT FOR THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISIONS
Romans 16:17–27
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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