This final chapter of Romans consists of 5 sections: 1) commendation of Phoebe, 2) a long list of greetings from Paul, 3) a warning against false teachers, 4) greetings from Paul's companions, 5) a doxology.
The commendation of Phoebe was important and common in the early church and served to introduce a faithful servant and co-worker with Paul to her new community. Paul's commendation of Phoebe is without reservation and impressive. She was obviously a faithful saint and co-laborer worthy of note.
The list of greetings contains many names found elsewhere in the ancient world in documents and even on landmarks of the day. There are several of these who are worthy of note. Prisca and Aquila are benefactors of the early Gentiles and the Christian church as a whole. They were Jews that Paul met in Corinth (Acts 18) and were faithful servants of God. Many of those mentioned are or were slaves. Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ was a slave. Junia is important to me for personal reasons - her name also can be translated as Julia and my oldest grandchild is named for her. Paul says she is his relative, was imprisoned with him and was a Christian before he was. Rufus may be the son of Simon of Cyrene who carried Jesus' cross. This is worthy of note and Paul says Rufus' mother is also a mother to him!
The warning in verses 17 - 20 seems out of place, but may be a sort of post script to Paul's letter.
The next group of greetings seem to be from Paul's traveling companions, Timothy, Sosipater, Lucious and Jason. Also here Tertius is listed here as Paul's amanuensis or a kind of recording secretary. Tertius means "Three" or "Third" in Greek and may well have been a slaves name. Erastus is listed next - he was the city treasurer and a very important political figure, and Quartus rounds out the group. Quartus is Greek for "Four" or "Forth", again likely a slaves name. It interests me that Erastus - an impressive man of note is bracketed between 2 slaves. I like to think this speaks to the egalitarian nature of the early church.
Tomorrow we turn to the book of Ephesians! I guess I'll close the study of Romans with Paul's (and Tertius') own benediction. "Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen."
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4 comments:
I think the letter of introduction is a lost art.
How impressive is it that all those saints were listed as being worthy of introduction.
I remember my Grandfather showing me a letter of introduction written for him in Hawaii.
It was written by an Asian gentleman who taught my Grandfather martial arts - WAY back in the day.
That letter saved my Grandfather's life on a few occasions.
This letter of introduction in Romans 16 may have had the same effect - or at least opened some doors to receive the teaching of the Gospel.
It could also have served to encourage the saints to live up to the reputation he described to the church.
Cool stuff.
Good observations Mark,
There are many traditions that we have left behind that we would be wise to reclaim. The letter of commendation could be used in daily life - commending the saints that are living into a deeper walk and it probably would encourage them and others to aspire to deeper things. I think we have become so sensitive to those that are left out or not recognized. Makes me think....
Bill
Wouldn't it have been awesome to be one of those people Paul was naming? I'm sure he changed the lives of those people by naming them at the conclusion of this book. Many of them may have continued in ministry simply because they knew they were a part of it from the wonderful writings of Paul. All of these people changed his life, and encouraged his faith, so he feels the need to mention them. It's one of those chapters that you could just skim over, and not realize anything special about any of the names listed. I'm so glad Bill helped out on a lot of the history - how wonderful it is to know all those things!
I also love that even in his last sentence of the entire book of Romans, Paul was sure to emphasize the fact that God is the only one worth worshiping - "the only wise God..." The sentence could totally work without that phrase, but it really works well to end on the strong note that our God is the only one, and he's incredible!
God bless,
Marsh
I've always loved this list too for the inclusion of so many women's names who were already serving in ministry with Paul in different ways. I've actually just been reading about letters of introduction too in a biography about Louisa May Alcott, one of my favorite authors. Since I'm in the process of thinking about going back to school, I've been gathering recommendations - sort of like these letters - but current protocol is that they go unopened with my application. ;)
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