-19-
Real People
Romans 16
At the end of chapter fifteen we read these words … The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
That sounds like a conclusion. In most of Paul's writings, that would have been 'it'. But there is one more chapter.
As we have pointed out earlier in this study, Paul did not plant this church. Paul has never visited this church. But Paul has heard much about this church. He has said in chapter 1:8 ¶ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
As we will see in chapter 16, not everyone in the church of Rome is a stranger to him. He knows quite a number of them by name.
Paul concludes this book with a very warm, heartfelt good-bye. Paul loves people and that becomes very clear in these next few verses.
He begins with one person who is not in Rome. That person is Phoebe
1-2 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
Who is Phoebe? She is a trusted person who will take the 'letter to the Romans' that Paul is just completing … to Rome. She is referred to as a deacon in the NIV version. In every other version that I have she is referred to as a 'servant'. The Philips translation uses 'deaconess'.
So what is she exactly? She may have been one of the widows mentioned by Paul : 1Ti 5:9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband. This 'enrolling' was a paid position for church widows who would become a 'deaconess' in situations where she would have no family at all to support her. Or she may have been a deacon couple, but now her husband has passed away and she remains a deaconess. There is no support in scripture where the early church ever chose men to be deacons and women to be deaconesses. The indication is that couples were to be chosen.
Paul is in Greece, Corinth, to be specific. Phoebe will head west with the letter. Paul will head east toward Israel, with his 'bag of money', and no doubt, some friends that will accompany him.
Phoebe's home church was in Cenchreae. That is a seaport suburb of Corinth, on the east side of Greece. Paul's instructions to the Roman church regarding Phoebe are … receive her and help her (monetarily).
He affirms her trustworthiness by saying that she has helped many people including Paul himself.
Paul ends his letter by mentioning a list of people who are in the church(es) at Rome. We can only guess at the total number of Christians in Rome. My guess is that the number is quite large. Partly I say that because this is a church whose fame (faith) is known 'world-wide'.
The known world of Paul's day was smaller than he thought. He would have no idea that North America existed and was populated by people ... people whose history dated back to the time of Noah, a number of years after the flood. As the earth was divided, the various land masses (that we call continents) carried with them animals and people.
These people remained unknown to missionaries for centuries. Did God care about them? Of course. Reread chapter 4, “God's Justice and Kindness”.
So Paul's world was a lot smaller than what it actually was. In his mind, by going to Spain he would be on the outer limits.
As Paul writes to the large number of believers in Rome, he makes them aware that he knows a few of them. He mentions specifically:
Aquila and Priscilla
3,4. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.
These two are husband and wife. Paul mentions Priscilla first. And in the Greek he uses the name 'Prisca', which is a shorter and more personal form of her name. Paul tells us where they first met.
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
Paul saw this 'tent-making' couple, struck up a conversation which turned into a friendship like no other.
When Paul left Corinth, he sailed to Syria, accompanied by Aquilla and Priscilla. They made their way to Ephesus and worked with Paul there for some time. Paul left for Jerusalem, and after he was gone, Aquilla and Priscilla heard an 'eloquent' preacher. After he finished his sermon they took him aside and 'corrected' his teaching. The preacher was Apollos who preached a gospel which said that Jesus was about to come, get ready and be baptized … in the 'name' of John the Baptist. It is obvious to me that Apollos had been baptized by John, but when John told people to 'wait' for The ONE who was to come … Apollos must have missed the word 'wait'. So while he went everywhere preaching, Jesus came, died and rose again but Apollos missed it all.
Aquilla and Priscilla brought him up to date.
Paul had some exciting 'risk-filled' times in Ephesus. Aquilla and Priscilla were there … risking their lives for Paul. Paul adds, 'All the churches of the gentiles are grateful to them'.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Like I have been saying, the church in Rome was not one large assembly. It was comprised of numerous house churches. Aquilla and Priscilla are now back in Rome and are in charge of one of the house churches in Rome.
5b Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
It appears that Paul and Epenetus remained friends all through the years. At some point Epenetes moved to Rome and settled there. I can imagine that Paul is looking forward to seeing him again.
6 Greet Mary, who labored much for us. (The NIV states 'worked hard for you') Here is a comment by John Gill quoting what Clement of Rome wrote: “... calling her most faithful, worthy of God, and a bearer of Christ, and in all things wise: and in another letter of his he represents her as exceeding learned, an exemplar of godly women, and having a church in her house.
We have no way of knowing if Paul knew her previously from some location in Asia and that now she resides in Rome, but this seems to me to be most likely.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
Junias (Junia in the Greek scripture) was likely the wife of Andronicus. Paul refers to them as relatives of his. This may be the case or he could mean in the general sense that all Jews are his kinsmen. These two were not apostles … but as it states … outstanding among them. They stood out as leaders. They did jail time with Paul. It is most likely that ALL of these people that Paul knows, who are now in Rome … are not sitting idle within their churches. When someone with a strong Christian background shows up in our church … it is not long before their strengths are recognized and they find themselves in serving and even in leading roles in the church.
I can well imagine that people with such a strong faith and powerful testimony would not be satisfied to sit in a house church where they were not needed. If that seemed to be the case, I am sure they would have moved to a more needy group … or just started a new one.
8 Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord.
The KJV uses the term 'beloved'. Ampliatus … or Amplias, is a Roman name. He is likely a person that Paul led to Christ. Commentator John Gill says there is some evidence that Ampliatus was a pastor/bishop in Odyssus. Where is that? The city was located in the east coast of Bulgaria, directly north of Turkey. To my knowledge, Paul's travels did not take him that far north, but perhaps this 'convert' took the gospel up there. Ampliatus now lives in Rome. It seems logical to me that in whatever house church he is now a part of, he would be serving in a leading role.
9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow-worker (helper) in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
Urbanus is another Roman name. Many of the Popes have taken on this name, possibly so that the people would honor them as 'helper in Christ'. Most commentators have the idea that he was one of the (house church) pastors in Rome. There seems to be no hint of how Paul got to know him, however, with reference to Stachys it is clear that there was a close friendship. It is said that Stachys was one of the seventy that Jesus sent out, two by two. There is some indication that Stachys was pastoring in Byzantium, which is, from Greece, go north to Macedonia and then to the east. But now he is also in Rome. Again … probably leading a church group there.
10 Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
Some writers have indicated that they believe Apelles to be one and the same as Apollos. There is not any proof of this. Apelles has been credited with having been a bishop of the church of Smyrna, mentioned in the Revelation. He is living in Rome at the time Paul writes these words, so we don't know if he has come from Smyrna, or if he goes to Smyrna later in his life.
Paul sends greetings to 'The household of Aristobulus'. Notice he does not say 'Greet Aristobulus and his household'. Why? Perhaps Aristobulus himself has passed away … or is presently not living in Rome, so Paul sends greetings to the household. It is also possible that Aristobulus himself was not a believer, so Paul just greets the household. This word, 'household' sounds like another term for 'church which is in your house'.
11 Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Herodion, my relative can mean, a fellow Jew, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, … or an actual relative. He is also thought to have been one of the seventy that Jesus trained and sent out. It is said that he became the bishop of Tarsus, Paul's home town. We don't know if that would be later on, but for now he is in Rome and likely leading a house church there.
Once again Paul greets a household; the household of Narcissus. This likely means that Narcissus was not a believer, but that many in his household were, and likely he permitted a house church to function there. There are reports that Narcissus was worth millions and could be quite a ruthless person. And yet he permitted a group of believers to worship in a section of his home.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
Tryphena and Tryphosa are said to be two women who were converted to Christianity by Paul when he was in Iconium. He commends them for their 'hard work in the Lord'. This hard word does not include preaching or teaching mixed groups of males and females. Since Paul taught against that, he would certainly not commend them for it. This 'hard work' would be similar to the work that Phoebe did. So likely they are deaconesses as well.
Persis is commended with the additional word 'very' hard. There are some researchers who claim that she is the wife of Rufus, who is mentioned in the next verse.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
Mark mentions Rufus in the following scripture: Mr 15:21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
Rufus is mentioned by early writers to have been one of the initial 'seventy' that Jesus sent out. Trained by Jesus, serving in various places as an evangelist/church planter, and now living in Rome. Paul has met him, loves him, commends him and also honors his mother. His father, Simon of Cyrene, the one who bore Jesus' cross, had likely passed away.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them.
The first two in this list are said to be from the original group of seventy that Jesus sent out. The others may have been Paul's disciples. Very likely all of these are known to the church in Rome. Either they are all leaders of house churches or this group could have all been in one house church because of the phrase; and the brothers with them. But I believe they represent a number of house churches.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them.
Here is another group including all the saints with them. If Rome was a typical large city it would have subdivisions in different sectors. The people listed in this verse could represent a group of house churches in 'one section of town'.
Philologus is said to be one of the Seventy and Julia is most likely his wife. Little is available regarding Nereus and his sister, but Olympas is said to be another of the group of Seventy.
Notice in this long list there is no mention of 'Greet the Apostle Peter for me'. He called himself the apostle to the 'circumcision' … the Jews, and made his home on the seacoast in Caesarea. At the time Paul is writing this book of Romans many years have gone by. Both Paul and Peter are no longer young men. The Catholic view that Peter had moved to Rome to be the first pope has zero evidence in history. As I said, Paul surely would have greeted him if he were living there.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Here is Paul's final 'signing off'. Greeting with a 'holy kiss' was a custom of closeness. We shake hands, bump fists, sometimes hug. In some of the eastern cultures they kiss first one cheek and then the other.
For Paul to say All the churches of Christ send greetings means that he has been talking about his plans to go to Rome. Those churches are saying things like we would 'Tell them hello from us'.
17 ¶ I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
As the apostle signs off he seems to realize that, so far in this letter, he has not given any warnings about false teachers. He includes it here at the end.
Watch out is actually 'take note of'. It is the word 'mark'. That is the first step. When your suspicions are confirmed … Keep away from them. Avoid them. Root them out? He is not saying that here. But when certain people are 'being avoided' it will become a bit obvious. Certainly the 'avoided ones' will begin to feel it. If they start to make an issue of it … the church might have to go to the next level and officially exclude them.
18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Here Paul give a few hints. Watch out for smooth talkers.
19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
What good advice! Who says that we have to examine evil things … so that we know what to speak against? Paul says that it is possible to sense what is evil. But it is better to remain innocent of all the details.
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Here is another 'signing off'. As Paul concludes the letter he uses an interesting phrase. This is alluding back to what God said in Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Satan will be totally crushed one day. We too, are looking forward to it.
21 Timothy, my fellow-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.
From this verse we learn that Timothy is in Corinth assisting Paul in ministry. We could say a lot about Timothy.
We will limit it to this. He is a lot younger than Paul. He wanted to join Paul's missionary group at one point, and because he was a gentile and Paul thought there might be criticism from those of Jewish background, Paul himself circumcised Timothy.
We are told that Timothy's mother and grandmother were women of faith. That would go back in time before Christianity had even begun, so Paul must be referring to their Jewish background. Timothy's father, however, was a Greek. We don't know if he was a believer.
Timothy was assigned a post at Ephesus to be bishop over the whole church (all the house churches) in that city. Paul wrote two books (letters) to him that are included in our New Testament.
Lucius likely is Luke, the physician, who accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. Luke wrote the gospel of Luke and also the book of Acts. He, along with Jason and Sosipater, are called Paul's relatives. If Paul means relatives in a physical sense, then that means Luke, Jason and Sosipater were Paul's cousins.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
The people in verse 21 and Tertius, the one who has been taking dictation, are all sending greetings. It is reasonable to believer that they are all in the house at the very time that Paul is wrapping up his 'book' to the Romans. And it probably started with Timothy saying, 'Paul, Greet them for me, would you?'. That would start the others saying, 'Yes, include me too'.
23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.
24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Paul signs off again.
For some reason the NIV leaves out this verse. Perhaps the translators, wanting to make it more readable, decided that Paul has signed off too many times.
Next follows a very worshipful closing
25 ¶ Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27 to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
This is a fairly long sentence. If you read only the part that I have underlined, you have the basic sentence.
Now to Him be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Everything in between is a beautiful summary of this whole book.
Paul began in chapter one by talking about the gospel. He spent considerable time explaining and revealing the mystery … that Jews and Gentiles will ultimately be ONE 'tree', all nations having equal opportunity to come to faith. He gave us some very practical and wise instruction on being ONE UNIFIED, EFFECTIVE and blessed body.
What a wise and wonderful God!
That sounds like a conclusion. In most of Paul's writings, that would have been 'it'. But there is one more chapter.
As we have pointed out earlier in this study, Paul did not plant this church. Paul has never visited this church. But Paul has heard much about this church. He has said in chapter 1:8 ¶ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
As we will see in chapter 16, not everyone in the church of Rome is a stranger to him. He knows quite a number of them by name.
Paul concludes this book with a very warm, heartfelt good-bye. Paul loves people and that becomes very clear in these next few verses.
He begins with one person who is not in Rome. That person is Phoebe
1-2 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
Who is Phoebe? She is a trusted person who will take the 'letter to the Romans' that Paul is just completing … to Rome. She is referred to as a deacon in the NIV version. In every other version that I have she is referred to as a 'servant'. The Philips translation uses 'deaconess'.
So what is she exactly? She may have been one of the widows mentioned by Paul : 1Ti 5:9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband. This 'enrolling' was a paid position for church widows who would become a 'deaconess' in situations where she would have no family at all to support her. Or she may have been a deacon couple, but now her husband has passed away and she remains a deaconess. There is no support in scripture where the early church ever chose men to be deacons and women to be deaconesses. The indication is that couples were to be chosen.
Paul is in Greece, Corinth, to be specific. Phoebe will head west with the letter. Paul will head east toward Israel, with his 'bag of money', and no doubt, some friends that will accompany him.
Phoebe's home church was in Cenchreae. That is a seaport suburb of Corinth, on the east side of Greece. Paul's instructions to the Roman church regarding Phoebe are … receive her and help her (monetarily).
He affirms her trustworthiness by saying that she has helped many people including Paul himself.
Paul ends his letter by mentioning a list of people who are in the church(es) at Rome. We can only guess at the total number of Christians in Rome. My guess is that the number is quite large. Partly I say that because this is a church whose fame (faith) is known 'world-wide'.
The known world of Paul's day was smaller than he thought. He would have no idea that North America existed and was populated by people ... people whose history dated back to the time of Noah, a number of years after the flood. As the earth was divided, the various land masses (that we call continents) carried with them animals and people.
These people remained unknown to missionaries for centuries. Did God care about them? Of course. Reread chapter 4, “God's Justice and Kindness”.
So Paul's world was a lot smaller than what it actually was. In his mind, by going to Spain he would be on the outer limits.
As Paul writes to the large number of believers in Rome, he makes them aware that he knows a few of them. He mentions specifically:
Aquila and Priscilla
3,4. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.
These two are husband and wife. Paul mentions Priscilla first. And in the Greek he uses the name 'Prisca', which is a shorter and more personal form of her name. Paul tells us where they first met.
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
Paul saw this 'tent-making' couple, struck up a conversation which turned into a friendship like no other.
When Paul left Corinth, he sailed to Syria, accompanied by Aquilla and Priscilla. They made their way to Ephesus and worked with Paul there for some time. Paul left for Jerusalem, and after he was gone, Aquilla and Priscilla heard an 'eloquent' preacher. After he finished his sermon they took him aside and 'corrected' his teaching. The preacher was Apollos who preached a gospel which said that Jesus was about to come, get ready and be baptized … in the 'name' of John the Baptist. It is obvious to me that Apollos had been baptized by John, but when John told people to 'wait' for The ONE who was to come … Apollos must have missed the word 'wait'. So while he went everywhere preaching, Jesus came, died and rose again but Apollos missed it all.
Aquilla and Priscilla brought him up to date.
Paul had some exciting 'risk-filled' times in Ephesus. Aquilla and Priscilla were there … risking their lives for Paul. Paul adds, 'All the churches of the gentiles are grateful to them'.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Like I have been saying, the church in Rome was not one large assembly. It was comprised of numerous house churches. Aquilla and Priscilla are now back in Rome and are in charge of one of the house churches in Rome.
5b Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
It appears that Paul and Epenetus remained friends all through the years. At some point Epenetes moved to Rome and settled there. I can imagine that Paul is looking forward to seeing him again.
6 Greet Mary, who labored much for us. (The NIV states 'worked hard for you') Here is a comment by John Gill quoting what Clement of Rome wrote: “... calling her most faithful, worthy of God, and a bearer of Christ, and in all things wise: and in another letter of his he represents her as exceeding learned, an exemplar of godly women, and having a church in her house.
We have no way of knowing if Paul knew her previously from some location in Asia and that now she resides in Rome, but this seems to me to be most likely.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
Junias (Junia in the Greek scripture) was likely the wife of Andronicus. Paul refers to them as relatives of his. This may be the case or he could mean in the general sense that all Jews are his kinsmen. These two were not apostles … but as it states … outstanding among them. They stood out as leaders. They did jail time with Paul. It is most likely that ALL of these people that Paul knows, who are now in Rome … are not sitting idle within their churches. When someone with a strong Christian background shows up in our church … it is not long before their strengths are recognized and they find themselves in serving and even in leading roles in the church.
I can well imagine that people with such a strong faith and powerful testimony would not be satisfied to sit in a house church where they were not needed. If that seemed to be the case, I am sure they would have moved to a more needy group … or just started a new one.
8 Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord.
The KJV uses the term 'beloved'. Ampliatus … or Amplias, is a Roman name. He is likely a person that Paul led to Christ. Commentator John Gill says there is some evidence that Ampliatus was a pastor/bishop in Odyssus. Where is that? The city was located in the east coast of Bulgaria, directly north of Turkey. To my knowledge, Paul's travels did not take him that far north, but perhaps this 'convert' took the gospel up there. Ampliatus now lives in Rome. It seems logical to me that in whatever house church he is now a part of, he would be serving in a leading role.
9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow-worker (helper) in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
Urbanus is another Roman name. Many of the Popes have taken on this name, possibly so that the people would honor them as 'helper in Christ'. Most commentators have the idea that he was one of the (house church) pastors in Rome. There seems to be no hint of how Paul got to know him, however, with reference to Stachys it is clear that there was a close friendship. It is said that Stachys was one of the seventy that Jesus sent out, two by two. There is some indication that Stachys was pastoring in Byzantium, which is, from Greece, go north to Macedonia and then to the east. But now he is also in Rome. Again … probably leading a church group there.
10 Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
Some writers have indicated that they believe Apelles to be one and the same as Apollos. There is not any proof of this. Apelles has been credited with having been a bishop of the church of Smyrna, mentioned in the Revelation. He is living in Rome at the time Paul writes these words, so we don't know if he has come from Smyrna, or if he goes to Smyrna later in his life.
Paul sends greetings to 'The household of Aristobulus'. Notice he does not say 'Greet Aristobulus and his household'. Why? Perhaps Aristobulus himself has passed away … or is presently not living in Rome, so Paul sends greetings to the household. It is also possible that Aristobulus himself was not a believer, so Paul just greets the household. This word, 'household' sounds like another term for 'church which is in your house'.
11 Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Herodion, my relative can mean, a fellow Jew, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, … or an actual relative. He is also thought to have been one of the seventy that Jesus trained and sent out. It is said that he became the bishop of Tarsus, Paul's home town. We don't know if that would be later on, but for now he is in Rome and likely leading a house church there.
Once again Paul greets a household; the household of Narcissus. This likely means that Narcissus was not a believer, but that many in his household were, and likely he permitted a house church to function there. There are reports that Narcissus was worth millions and could be quite a ruthless person. And yet he permitted a group of believers to worship in a section of his home.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
Tryphena and Tryphosa are said to be two women who were converted to Christianity by Paul when he was in Iconium. He commends them for their 'hard work in the Lord'. This hard word does not include preaching or teaching mixed groups of males and females. Since Paul taught against that, he would certainly not commend them for it. This 'hard work' would be similar to the work that Phoebe did. So likely they are deaconesses as well.
Persis is commended with the additional word 'very' hard. There are some researchers who claim that she is the wife of Rufus, who is mentioned in the next verse.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
Mark mentions Rufus in the following scripture: Mr 15:21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
Rufus is mentioned by early writers to have been one of the initial 'seventy' that Jesus sent out. Trained by Jesus, serving in various places as an evangelist/church planter, and now living in Rome. Paul has met him, loves him, commends him and also honors his mother. His father, Simon of Cyrene, the one who bore Jesus' cross, had likely passed away.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them.
The first two in this list are said to be from the original group of seventy that Jesus sent out. The others may have been Paul's disciples. Very likely all of these are known to the church in Rome. Either they are all leaders of house churches or this group could have all been in one house church because of the phrase; and the brothers with them. But I believe they represent a number of house churches.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them.
Here is another group including all the saints with them. If Rome was a typical large city it would have subdivisions in different sectors. The people listed in this verse could represent a group of house churches in 'one section of town'.
Philologus is said to be one of the Seventy and Julia is most likely his wife. Little is available regarding Nereus and his sister, but Olympas is said to be another of the group of Seventy.
Notice in this long list there is no mention of 'Greet the Apostle Peter for me'. He called himself the apostle to the 'circumcision' … the Jews, and made his home on the seacoast in Caesarea. At the time Paul is writing this book of Romans many years have gone by. Both Paul and Peter are no longer young men. The Catholic view that Peter had moved to Rome to be the first pope has zero evidence in history. As I said, Paul surely would have greeted him if he were living there.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Here is Paul's final 'signing off'. Greeting with a 'holy kiss' was a custom of closeness. We shake hands, bump fists, sometimes hug. In some of the eastern cultures they kiss first one cheek and then the other.
For Paul to say All the churches of Christ send greetings means that he has been talking about his plans to go to Rome. Those churches are saying things like we would 'Tell them hello from us'.
17 ¶ I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
As the apostle signs off he seems to realize that, so far in this letter, he has not given any warnings about false teachers. He includes it here at the end.
Watch out is actually 'take note of'. It is the word 'mark'. That is the first step. When your suspicions are confirmed … Keep away from them. Avoid them. Root them out? He is not saying that here. But when certain people are 'being avoided' it will become a bit obvious. Certainly the 'avoided ones' will begin to feel it. If they start to make an issue of it … the church might have to go to the next level and officially exclude them.
18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Here Paul give a few hints. Watch out for smooth talkers.
19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
What good advice! Who says that we have to examine evil things … so that we know what to speak against? Paul says that it is possible to sense what is evil. But it is better to remain innocent of all the details.
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Here is another 'signing off'. As Paul concludes the letter he uses an interesting phrase. This is alluding back to what God said in Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Satan will be totally crushed one day. We too, are looking forward to it.
21 Timothy, my fellow-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.
From this verse we learn that Timothy is in Corinth assisting Paul in ministry. We could say a lot about Timothy.
We will limit it to this. He is a lot younger than Paul. He wanted to join Paul's missionary group at one point, and because he was a gentile and Paul thought there might be criticism from those of Jewish background, Paul himself circumcised Timothy.
We are told that Timothy's mother and grandmother were women of faith. That would go back in time before Christianity had even begun, so Paul must be referring to their Jewish background. Timothy's father, however, was a Greek. We don't know if he was a believer.
Timothy was assigned a post at Ephesus to be bishop over the whole church (all the house churches) in that city. Paul wrote two books (letters) to him that are included in our New Testament.
Lucius likely is Luke, the physician, who accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. Luke wrote the gospel of Luke and also the book of Acts. He, along with Jason and Sosipater, are called Paul's relatives. If Paul means relatives in a physical sense, then that means Luke, Jason and Sosipater were Paul's cousins.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
The people in verse 21 and Tertius, the one who has been taking dictation, are all sending greetings. It is reasonable to believer that they are all in the house at the very time that Paul is wrapping up his 'book' to the Romans. And it probably started with Timothy saying, 'Paul, Greet them for me, would you?'. That would start the others saying, 'Yes, include me too'.
23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.
24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Paul signs off again.
For some reason the NIV leaves out this verse. Perhaps the translators, wanting to make it more readable, decided that Paul has signed off too many times.
Next follows a very worshipful closing
25 ¶ Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27 to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
This is a fairly long sentence. If you read only the part that I have underlined, you have the basic sentence.
Now to Him be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Everything in between is a beautiful summary of this whole book.
Paul began in chapter one by talking about the gospel. He spent considerable time explaining and revealing the mystery … that Jews and Gentiles will ultimately be ONE 'tree', all nations having equal opportunity to come to faith. He gave us some very practical and wise instruction on being ONE UNIFIED, EFFECTIVE and blessed body.
What a wise and wonderful God!