Wednesday Bible Study: The end of all things-Romans

 

Romans 16 starts with a long list of people Paul and his scribe Tertius wanted greetings passed on to- boring stuff, right?  Even the commentators seem to content themselves with debating whether Andronicus, Junius, Herodian, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater were actually his kinsmen or this was a euphemism (my take on that at the end.)  But one thing among many we can learn from this chapter is the qualities in a Christian that Paul valued, because he names those qualities as he names off the friends that had them.  Ready?

- A servant of the Church:  Phoebe was noted as "a helper of many, including myself", and it was she that got top billing.

- Risked their necks for the Church: Which always brings to mind our missionaries in the field, and those, God bless them, who risk their lives bringing the Gospel to the Arabic and Oriental worlds.

-A firstfruit:  Valuable because when that first one goes in, others will follow.  Not only applicable in the sense Paul meant, but any endeavor. 

- "Did much labor for us": A bit of a difference here between Mary and Phoebe, in that you CAN serve the Church without laboring.

- "Noted among the Apostles":  Though not as famous; the pastor might get credit for the sermon, but what of the little child he met that week that planted an idea for that sermon in his head?  Paul goes on to mention that Andronicus and Junius were "in the Lord before me", which also reminds us we have- or should have- a long line of mentors behind us.

- Beloved in the Lord: This description of Ampliatus is echoed in the hard-working Persis later on. And it is not far from Apelles, who is "approved in Christ".  The commentators note that this means tried or tested, and there is some suggested that "Apelles" is also the more famous "Apollos".

-Fellow workers and prisoners: Sharing in all these works for the Lord.

As to the kinsmen part, I found what I think is evidence that Paul was using the term for those who had traveled with him on missionary journeys, with whom he had a special bound.  But would it be so much a stretch that Paul had a large extended family, and many of them were saved either by or (in the case of Andronicus and Junius) before he was?  It is not hard to believe that if he had previously saved relatives, they might have been particularly fervent in praying for him- at a time where most Christians might have been praying AGAINST him- and those prayers were heard when Christ appeared on the Damascus road.  And that- persistence in prayer- might be the biggest lesson from this list, if you're willing to do the mining of the Word...