Paul’s Deep Connections: A Glimpse into Romans 15 and 16

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Well, we’re coming to the end of Romans now, but it depends on what you mean by the end, because Paul has a hard time leaving, apparently. It’s as if he just can’t let go of talking to the Romans through his letter. On the other hand, it may not be that at all. Let me read the last few verses of chapter 15, and ask yourself, doesn’t that sound like the end of the letter? Let me read it from verse 30. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Well, that certainly sounds like an end, doesn’t it? Then what do we do with chapter 16? Well, as I think I mentioned the other day to you, there are some people who believe that while Paul was dictating this letter to his secretary, he was realizing that this is a theological treatise that can be sent to all the churches. It is, in fact, a sort of generic letter, not like his personal letters to Timothy or to the church in Corinth, for example. And so, in order for it to remain generic, he ended it at the end of chapter 15, so that then chapter 16 is an appendage specifically for those people in Rome. And I think that’s a fairly good explanation for the seeming ending of the letter in chapter 15, and yet the continuance in chapter 16, which might have been a special page or two, an appendage for those people in Rome. Anyway, chapter 16 is really a lot of greetings to various people in Rome, and you might want to, as a Bible study perhaps, or as just an enjoyable exercise, explore who these people were. that he mentions. Remember that the Caesar, at one point, one of the Caesars, forbade the Jewish people to remain in Rome because they were always arguing and creating trouble, and he was sick and tired of it, so he banned them from Rome. And the Jewish Christians were among those Jewish people who had to leave, and And many of them went to various parts of the empire, which Paul then covered in his missionary journeys. And so he met some of these people and, in fact, led them to Jesus Christ. And then, when the Caesar died, they felt it safe to return to Rome, and so Paul then, when writing to Rome, mentioned certain people that he knows, whom he had met on his missionary journeys and maybe led to Christ, and then they returned to Rome. So anyway, I’ll read the first section of Romans, and we will talk about it a little, and maybe we’ll spend another day or two on this chapter. I commend to you, Phoebe, our sister. And by the way, I want you to notice the wonderful intimacy that Paul seems to express in regard to these people. You know, many people think of Paul as a cold fish and somebody who is just intellectually abstract and didn’t have much interest in personal relationships. Well, that is completely erroneous. Paul was a very warm-hearted man. If you remember, in fact we might read it, in Acts chapter 20 when Paul was leaving, the people were so upset, they were all in tears and crying and hugging Paul. He was a much-loved individual. So there’s a first little glimpse into a relationship here. Phoebe apparently was a very prominent woman in the church, and she was a business lady, which is really quite interesting, because here is where one of the instances where we see the Christians treating each other equally, men treating women equally, women treating men equally. There was none of that subjugation of women, for all male, female, Greek and Jew, educated and uneducated, are all one in Jesus Christ. Paul makes that very clear in the book of Galatians. So I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Sencria. So not only was she a businesswoman, she was also possibly a deaconess in the church, and she was most likely traveling to Rome on business, and Paul asked her if she would deliver this letter to the Roman church. That’s what we can pick up from these couple of verses. Let’s read them again. I commend to you, Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Sancria, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever business she has need of you. See, this is the business side of Phoebe. For indeed, she has been a helper of many and of myself also. So I love the dignity that Paul is expressing towards Phoebe here, and there’s none of that mythology that puts women down, that mythology that says Paul puts women down. Not true. And then greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. So, we’ll talk a bit more about Priscilla and Aquila later on. Let’s read on. Likewise, greet the church that is in their house. Greet my fellow Eponatus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Now, I want you to notice something there. He has named two people that are apostles, Andronicus and Junia. but they are not among the twelve apostles. There are some people, even some denominations, who believe there are only twelve apostles, and that was the end of the apostleship. When they all died, the apostleship ended. Not so, for the word apostle means one cent. And obviously more people were sent than the twelve. And so we have here these two who were named apostles. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. So these two were converted before Paul was around as a Christian. Notice also he calls them fellow prisoners. So they were imprisoned along with Paul at some time or another. And can you imagine the fellowship in prayer and sharing the news about Jesus Christ? Can you imagine the conversations that went between them in prison? And can you imagine that if they were in Christ before Paul, Paul was probably learning quite a bit from them too. It’s so beautiful, isn’t it? So warm-hearted to think of these things. Greet Amplius, my beloved in the Lord. I wonder why he was beloved, and such an affectionate term to give someone. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stykes, my beloved. Another one, another beloved, you see. Greet Apellas, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Now, notice the word household has been mentioned several times, a couple of times. First of all, we have, well, not first of all, with this latest mention, is the household of Aristobulus. So it seems that when he was converted, approved in Christ, he Also the household of Aristobulus. That would mean that the head of the church, the head of the household, maybe the father here, accepted Christ and then he led all his household to Christ. How beautiful. Think of that. Then greet Herodian, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. So here’s another household, you see. Those who are of Narcissus. The word household is actually supplied. It’s not in the original language, but it’s implied by those who are of Narcissus. Well, in other words, Narcissus had a following. just like Aristobulus had a following, and presumably that following was his household, but it may have been a few neighbors too. So these people that Paul mentions were already witnesses to Jesus Christ, missionaries possibly, one or two of them. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. How beautiful to be described that way. You know, if you wanted somebody to describe you in one sentence, how would they describe you? Here is Paul describing the whole history of Tryphena and Tryphosa and describing them as labourers in the Lord. Beautiful. Greet the beloved Persis, who laboured much in the Lord. The beloved Persis. Oh yes, how much we’d like to know about that, wouldn’t we? So you see, all the people that Paul is mentioning here They have characters. They have personality. They are warm-blooded creatures who have affections for one another, who love one another, who look out for each other, who care for one another, and who watched out for Paul and helped him in his missionary journeys and also probably entertained him and hosted him in their houses and fed him and supplied him with the means to go on his journeys. This is a beautiful description of how the Christian church in those early days cared for each other. This is what we need to know today. This is what we need to experience. There are people who gather in house churches. I have a little house church myself on Monday nights, and it is a beautiful fellowship, and we are not many, but we care for each other. and it lightens the weak, and sends us on our way with the word of God and prayer for one another, and food, fellowship as well. And so that’s how we need to do it throughout the Christian church. It’s more than Sunday, it’s all the week too. Well, thanks again for joining me today. Colin Cook here. You’ve been listening to my broadcast, How It Happens, Monday through Friday. You can hear this on the radio at 10 o’clock in the evening, repeated at 4 in the morning on KLTT AM 670 in the Denver and Colorado and surrounding states areas. That’s AM 670, I think I mentioned. But you can also hear it on your smartphone or other remote device any time of the day or night. Simply download soundcloud.com or podbean.com and key in how it happens with Colin Cook when you get there. and please consider a donation. It’s listener-supported radio. It costs $39 per 15 minutes, and that is about $200 for a week’s programs or $850 to $900 for a month’s programs. You can send your donation to FaithQuest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio, and God bless.