PAUL’S LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS IN ROME |
| Chapter 16 |
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Verses 1-16: Paul and his friends [16.1] Remember that this chapter may not have been part of all the copies which went to Rome. Some people think that it went to Ephesus. Most likely Paul’s friends were Jews who had gone back to Rome. Paul had known them when they were in Ephesus or Corinth. Verses 1 and 2 speak about a lady called Phoebe [16.2] Cenchrea was one of the two ports of Corinth. It was only ten km (seven miles) east of Corinth on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Luke speaks about it in Acts 18:18. Already there was at least one church in Corinth and another which met not far away in Cenchrea. Phoebe was probably quite an important woman. She may have been rich. The word ‘servant’ (NIV) or ‘deaconess’ (RSV) may not be right. Phoebe may have helped the church with money and in other ways. Perhaps she had a building where they could meet. Phoebe, it seems, had to go to Rome on business. We do know of one woman who was a ship owner; we do not know what Phoebe’s business was. Paul asks the Christians in Rome to give her any help that she needs. It is likely that she will take this letter to Rome with her. Then Paul tells us why Phoebe ought to have this help. She has kept many people from danger. She has protected them. One of the people that she has protected was Paul himself. Now we do not know how she did this. There is one guess. In Acts 20:3 Paul is ready to sail from Corinth to Syria. We think that it was at this time that Paul wrote Romans. Paul would have sailed from Cenchrea to Syria. He had to change his plans because he heard that some Jews had made a ‘plot’. No doubt they wanted to kill Paul and his friends. Then they would steal the money that Paul and his friends were taking to Jerusalem. Some one warned Paul. That was someone who knew all about Cenchrea. That could have been Phoebe. If so, Paul wrote Romans 16 in between Acts 20:3 and Acts 20:4. In verses 3-16 we read about some other friends of Paul. Prisca or Priscilla and Aquila were wife and husband (verses 3 and 4). See Acts 18:2 and 26; 1 Corinthians 16:19 and 2 Timothy 4:19. Aquila came from Pontus on the south side of the Black Sea; see Acts 2:9. They made tents for their living and this was also Paul’s trade. They may also have made sails for ships. The same tools and skill were needed. They moved between Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. We do not know when they ‘risked their necks’ for Paul. It may have been at the time of the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19). The church which met at their house is the only one in Rome which Paul speaks about. They may have had a large space for tent making in which the church met. Epenetus may have become a Chrisian at Ephesus through the teaching of Aquila and Priscilla. The name is Greek, and it was common. Mary (verse 6) is almost sure to be a Christian Jew. (Verse 7) We know nothing more about Andronicus and Junias than what Paul says here. The names in verses 8 and 9 and Apelles in verse 10 are all names which were found in Caesar’s household. Aristobulus may have been a prince of the Herod family. He lived and died in Rome. This would explain the name Herodion. Narcissus may be a man of that name who had great power while Claudius was Caesar. Soon after Nero became Caesar, Nero’s mother had Narcissus killed. His household would then have become part of Caesar’s great household. (Verse 12) Tryphena and Tryphosa are two women and they were probably slaves. The names mean something like ‘Delicate’ and ‘Dainty’, but they worked hard. So did Persis who may well have been a slave. (Verse 13) [16.3] Rufus may be the son of Simon of Cyrene; see Mark 15:21. We do not know when his mother had been like a ’mother’ to Paul. This may have been at Antioch; see Acts 13:1. Verse 14 gives us the names of another group. The church in Rome used a book called ’The Shepherd of Hermas’ a little later than this. We do not know whether this Hermas wrote it. We know nothing more about the group whose names are in verse 15. What we can see is that Paul does not just list names. He writes to five or six groups of Christians who are in Rome. Perhaps some of them met Paul later when he reached Rome (Acts 28:15). They came to see him while he lived in Rome. (Acts 28:30). Many may have died in AD.64 when Nero killed great numbers of Christians in Rome. [16:4] The ’holy’ kiss may well have been a part of worship in the New Testament churches. See also 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26 and 1 Peter 5:14. In some parts of the world people do kiss each other. In many places it is not usual. People who do not belong to the churches would not understand. It must be a ’holy’ kiss! ‘All the churches of Christ’ here means the churches in Greece and Turkey. These are the churches which Paul had started, by the help of the Holy Spirit. Verses 17-20: A warning from Paul Paul now warns the Christians in Rome to turn away from people who cause trouble (Verse 17). People might come to them with wrong teaching. If some people listened to them but most did not, the Christians would no longer be united. See Jude verses 18 and 19. False teachers will trip people up. Verse 18 tells us that such false teachers come because they think that they can make money. It is not the love for the Lord Jesus that brings them. It is not love for the people that they teach, either. It is usually like this. The first people to bring the Good News are usually people with a real love for Jesus. They usually also have a love for the people that they come to serve. Then when there is a church, other people will come along with false teaching. They want to get money or other things for themselves. It is a good test to find out what people teach about Jesus.They must teach that He is truly God, God the Son. They must teach that He became a real man They must teach that He died for our sins and rose from death. If people believe and teach these things, then probably there will not be much wrong. See 1 John 4:2 and 3. It is not the clever, easy way that people teach by which we must judge them. So in verse 19, Paul says that everyone had heard about the faith of the Roman Christians. The false teachers will know about it and they will want to spoil it. So Paul says:-’Do not let them spoil it!’ The end of the verse is rather like a saying of Jesus in Matthew 10:16. It is God who gives us peace in our hearts. There is an enemy, the Devil. That is Satan. He does not want Christian people to have peace with one another. He wants to make trouble. So Paul says that God will soon tread on him. Paul does not say that we will do this. God will do it, yet it will be under our feet. That will bring an end to any trouble among the Christians. Some people think that Paul wrote these verses because he had just heard news from Rome. Perhaps there was trouble there. Verses 21-24: The people who were with Paul These verses tell us about some of Paul’s Christian friends. These are the people who were with him when he wrote the letter. (Verse 21) Timothy had joind Paul about the year AD.49. Timothy was still a young man. See Acts 16: 1-3. Timothy was a close friend of Paul and they worked closely together. Paul wrote his last letter to Timothy. Lucius is probably not Luke. There is a Lucius in Acts 13:10. Then there is a Jason in Acts 17:5-9. This is at Thessalonica and it could be the same man. Sosipater may be Sopater (Acts 20:4). (Verse 22) Tertius must have worked long and hard to write this letter out for Paul. It is only right that he should have a verse. But then his name means roughly ‘Three’. In the next verse is ‘Quartus’, ‘Four’. ‘Two’ , Secundus, is in Acts 20:4. Perhaps Aristarchus was the eldest of four brothers from Thessalonica. Or perhaps the church there brought up boys who had no father or mother, and these were ‘Two, Three, and Four’. (Verse 23) The full name of Gaius may be Titus Justus Gaius. For this Gaius, see Acts 18:7. Paul baptised Gaius; see 1 Corinthians 1:14. Gaius of Derbe in Acts 20:4 is not the same man. The Gaius in 3 John 1 could perhaps be the same as the one in Romans. Paul lived in his home and perhaps this was where the church met. Quartus might perhaps be the same man as Quadratus. He was a preacher of the Good News and leader of the church in the city of Athens. This would have been some years later. The name Erastus was a common one. However, there is a stone at Corinth with these words cut into it:- ‘Erastus, commissioner for public works, laid this pavement at his own expense.’ The Erastus in Acts 19:22 must be a different man. Perhaps he is the Erastus in 2 Timothy 4:20. Verses 25-27: A final prayer of blessing We know that Tertius wrote down this letter for Paul (verse 22). But Paul liked to write a few words himself at the end of a letter. See 1 Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11; Colossians 4:18; and 2 Thessalonians 3:17. These verses in Romans may sound different from the rest of the letter as we read them. This may be because Paul wrote them himself. They are a prayer to God but they are full of teaching for us. Verse 25: (Verse 27) The false ‘gods’ of the nations were foolish. Men’s thoughts
are foolish. Only God is so wise that He could plan a way to save us.
Only He is so wise that He can bring sinners, men and women, to glory.
The glory of God is the glory of His grace. That grace comes to us ‘through
Jesus Christ’. It comes in no other way. To God alone be all the glory
for ever, through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
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