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Reading Romans 16:1-16 where the Apostle Paul mentions a number of faithful Christian examples of good workers for the cause of Christ. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
In Romans Chapter 16, Paul goes through a long list of names, but every one of these persons has contributed something great to the cause of Christ in the building of his church. We all have a job to do, men and women, when we understand the text.
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When We Understand the Text is an online ministry dedicated to teaching the Word of God in context, promoting sound doctrine while exposing the faulty.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of Romans Chapter 16. We've got a list of names to go through today, so I'm going to begin by reading verses 1 -16. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Syncriae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many, and of myself as well.
Greet Priscia and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house.
Greet my beloved Eponidas, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.
Greet my kinsmen Herodian. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. Greet those workers in the Lord, Traphena and Traphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. Greet Asyncretus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. You might notice there are a number of women in this particular list, and that's one thing that Romans 16 verses 1 through 16 is noted for, and it just shows how much God has included both men and women in the service of the church.
Now, very unfortunately, some have taken the work of these women and they've tried to twist it into insinuating that this is evidence that women can be pastors and elders, or even an apostle, but you don't find that said anywhere here in Romans 16.
That's infused into the text or imposed upon the text. That's not drawn out from the text. Let's consider these names as we go through them. First, Romans 16 verse 1, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Syncriae.
Now, this is the only place where Phoebe is mentioned. We don't have her come up anywhere else in the New Testament. Syncriae was a town that was right next to Corinth, and as I said before, Paul was likely writing this letter from Corinth, so it could be that Phoebe is the deliverer of this letter.
Consider the way that he talks about her. I commend to you our sister Phoebe. So, Paul is presenting her to them and may literally be doing so, like she's there in their presence, and welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and help her in whatever she may need from you.
Well, how could they welcome her and how would they be able to help her in whatever she needs from them if she wasn't there with them? So, Phoebe was the one that delivered this letter. Now, it's very unlikely that a woman would have traveled alone.
So, going from Corinth to Rome to deliver this letter, Phoebe would not have gone by herself. She would have had others with her, and likely men. Could be they were servants or they may have been her own sons, and it could be that the sons are even mentioned in this list.
We just don't know what their association is or other members of her household, something like that. But anyway, Phoebe being mentioned by herself and being someone who's a patron, she likely was a matriarch, and that means that she could have been a widow or she could have just been a woman who had accumulated a lot of money.
But as a patron, she's someone who has given money to these causes. She has been a patron of many and of myself as well. So, this is a woman who has helped to fund many of these missionary efforts and the spreading of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire.
That's awesome, and that's huge. And as a woman who maybe was well-traveled since she had all of this money and maybe servants to be able to attend to her and go with her, then she was the one who was pleased to take this letter from Paul in Corinth and take it over to Rome while he was going to be heading back to Jerusalem.
Paul says, help her in whatever she may need from you. So, while she's with you, give her a place to stay, give her food, provide for her, and any money that may be necessary to get her back to where she came from.
She has been a patron of many and of myself as well. As she has given much, give much to her. That's how Paul presents Phoebe. Now, oftentimes, Phoebe is used as an example of a deacon, because as it mentions servant here, I commend to you our sister Phoebe a servant or deaconess, because the Greek word that's used there is like the feminine form of deacon.
So, some have taken this, and because that's the way that the word reads in Greek, therefore, Phoebe was a deacon, and so women can be deacons. But that even here is imposing something on the text that isn't there.
We don't translate it that way, and it doesn't look like Paul is saying anything about her as though ascribing a proper title or an office that she holds. She's just a servant of the church and a patron of many and of myself as well.
A woman can serve the church and do so with great intentions and honor and not have to hold an office. That's one of those things that's really the most concerning about the pastor and deacon debate as to whether a woman can be a pastor or be a deacon.
We should be able to all agree a woman can't be a pastor, and then the deacon debate is just kind of open to most folks. But what's the intention here? Why? Why are we trying to say that a woman can be a pastor or a woman can be a deacon?
Is she not content to serve in the ways that God has called women to serve, that she must also hold these offices in the church as well? This is a very prestigious thing that Phoebe is doing, and the way that Paul commends her to them, to the church there in Rome, is with very high regard.
So I don't know why a woman would have to fill those particular roles to feel like she's doing anything important in the church. God has stated that the role of a pastor is supposed to be a man. And likewise, I believe that 1 Timothy 3, 8 through 13 also says that deacons are to be men.
Now, one of the interesting things about the qualifications for deacons that you don't have the qualifications for elders is that the wife has to meet certain qualifications there as well. For the elder, he just has to keep his household in order.
But with the deacon, it's very likely that a deacon's wife would be just as much a servant to the church as the deacon would be. So therefore, she's got some qualifications she's supposed to meet as well.
Let me just run through this real quick, since we're on the subject. 1 Timothy 3, starting in verse 8, deacons likewise must be must be dignified, not double tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience and let them also be tested first and then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober minded, faithful in all things.
Now, it's that particular verse where there's sometimes an argument because it could be translated women likewise must be dignified, not necessarily their wives. But I think in the context of the instructions that were given to elders and now what's given to deacons, we're talking about a man who has a faithful wife and only one wife, because as it goes on to say in verse 12, let deacons each be the husband of one wife managing their children in their own households.
Well, it would be odd to be talking about the qualifications of this man, then talk about the qualifications of women, then come back and say the man must be the husband of one wife, which is why I think we're talking about the qualifications of a man who would be a deacon and that his wife also meets certain qualifications since they're going to be servants to the church.
And a wife very likely would help her husband do that since this is not a teaching position, whereas in the qualifications for elders, the elder or the overseer or the pastor of the church, he's got a teaching position.
And right before this in chapter two, Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. So the wife is not going to help her husband teach. But in the case of a deacon, the wife will very likely help her husband serve.
So she's got qualifications she should meet. But the husband is the deacon for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
So there's our qualifications there. And there's our understanding of Phoebe. We've just gone through two verses and we're halfway done with the podcast here. So let's let's continue on with this next part of Romans chapter 16, verse three, greet Prisha and Akilah, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.
Now, we don't know how Prisha and Akilah had risked their lives for Paul. It could have been at the riot in Ephesus, which is mentioned in in Acts chapter 19. We also have this statement from Paul to the Corinthians.
First Corinthians 15, verse 32. What do I gain if humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals.
Anyway, going on from there. But but the fact that Paul mentions I fought with beasts at Ephesus, could that have been the riot in Acts 19? We don't know for sure. He was there for over two years. So there could have been some other things that happened with Paul in Ephesus.
Timothy would later die in Ephesus, according to what we have in church history. So that was a pretty hostile place to be ministering. Something could have happened to Paul there. Prisha and Akilah put themselves in harm's way for his sake and saved his life.
This is the same Prisha and Akilah that we read about in Acts chapter 18, where they correct Apollos in some of the not incorrect teaching that he had, because actually Acts was very praising of how knowledgeable he was of the scriptures.
But he only had knowledge up through the baptism of John, John's baptism of Christ in the Jordan. And so Prisha and Akilah took him aside and filled out the rest of the details for him. And then he became a solid gospel preacher.
This is a husband and wife team who did this together. Now, in Acts, Prisha is mentioned as Priscilla. It's likely just a different spelling of the name. There's different theories that are proposed as to why there's a Priscilla and then a Prisha.
But it could just be a variation on the spelling, just like you would have Epaphroditus or Epaphras. It's the same name, one's just longer than the other. So, and by the way, having said that, use that example, there is an Epaphras and an Epaphroditus mentioned in the New Testament, but they're two different men.
It's the same name, just two different men. And that could be why Paul uses the same name in two different ways, so we don't get confused about that. But here we know Prisha and Priscilla are the same person because, well, first of all, Prisha is a variant of that name.
And because Akilah, we have her identity recognized by her husband, Akilah. So they help Paul. They are also loved by the churches of the Gentiles, giving thanks for them because Paul's life was saved and many other churches were planted as a result.
Therefore, they give thanks to the work that Prisha and Akilah did for Paul's life. Now, these two, this husband and wife duo, they're mentioned other places in Acts, as I mentioned, also in 1 Corinthians.
There, Akilah's name is mentioned first. I don't know that there's any real significance to that. Sometimes Prisha's is first, sometimes Akilah's is first. So we go on to verse five. It says, greet also the church in their house.
That's mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, where it says, the churches of Asia send you greetings, Akilah and Prisha together with the church in their house send you hearty greetings in the Lord. So because this was said to the Corinthians, that's 1 Corinthians 16, 19, we know that Akilah and Prisha's church, the church that they hosted in their home, we know that it was not in Corinth, wherever it may have been.
It could have been in Ephesus because that was where Paul worked with them while he was doing the service that he did for over two years. So that may have been where it was, especially with the comment about the churches of Asia send you greetings.
But certainly it was not in Corinth. Now, just because they had a church or they hosted a church in their home, that does not mean that Prisha or Priscilla was a pastor. Sometimes she gets referenced as, look, this woman was a pastor, so therefore women can be pastors.
That's not the case at all. We never see Priscilla in the context of a pastor. She's certainly a minister. She ministers, Phoebe ministers. She may not have an office in the church, but she's a minister.
And we have previously seen how Priscilla and Akilah took Apollo's aside and corrected their teaching. So she was very smart and she did evangelism. This was a husband and wife duo that did these things.
They served with Paul. They all kind of had a tent making business together. So this is a woman who was even dedicated to hard labor, but that doesn't mean she held an office. It doesn't mean that she serves as an example of therefore a woman can be a pastor or a deacon.
As I said earlier, women can do great things in the church, in the service of God's work without having to hold those offices, and she will be greatly praised in the kingdom of God. For men and women, we all receive the kingdom together.
As Peter gives an instruction to husbands in 1 Peter 3, verse 7, he says, husbands love your wives as the weaker vessel and do not be harsh with them, for they are fellow heirs with you of the kingdom of Christ.
It's not that a pastor receives any greater reward because he's a pastor and a slave gets less reward because they're a slave. But remember the words of Christ, the last will be first and the first will be last.
Ladies, be content to be that picture of submission as God has appointed a woman to be. And in doing so faithfully, you will receive great reward in the kingdom of God. You are no less important in the service of the church than anybody else.
As we have the church talked about as being a body of Christ, we've talked about this in Romans chapter 12, verse five. We, though many are one body in Christ Jesus. And as it said also in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 22 through 24, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which are more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it.
So be content with the calling that God has placed upon you in the service that you do in the church. The portion of faith that God has assigned, as it says in Romans 12, three, serve the Lord with gladness and in his kingdom, you will receive great reward.
So we go on from here. Greet also the church in their house. That was verse five. Greet my beloved Eponidas, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. As Paul goes into Asia and is preaching the gospel at Antioch, we know the name of his first convert.
It was Eponidas verse six. Greet Mary, who has worked for you. Now, some will say this is Mary, the mother of Jesus or Mary Magdalene. We don't know for sure, but it was definitely a Mary of some recognition because the Romans would have known who it was that Paul was talking about.
Verse seven. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known among the apostles. OK, let's stop there for a moment. So this may be another husband and wife duo. Junia is often referenced as being a woman.
I'm going to contend or I'm going to argue that Junia is actually a man in Greek. Junia is a man's name in Latin. It's a woman's name, but it seems very unlikely that we're talking about a woman here because most of these names that we're seeing on this list are Greek, right?
So we're talking about two men, Andronicus and Junia. My kinsmen and fellow prisoners. A woman very unlikely would have been a fellow prisoner with Paul. But here we have two men who had been prison in prison with Paul, and they're well known to the apostles and they were in Christ before me.
How this often gets taken is that Junia is a woman and she was just called an apostle here. So therefore, apostles could be women as well. No, they're just known by the apostles for the work that they do.
And they were in Christ before me. So they've been Christians and walking with the Lord and in the service of the apostolic ministry longer than Paul has been. But they themselves are not apostles, nor would I even argue that one of those two is a woman.
So let's see. Where did I leave off here? Verse eight. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ and my beloved Stachus. These are names that we don't see come up elsewhere in the scriptures.
Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. Now, the family of Aristobulus probably refers to the servants in Aristobulus's household. There are some who think that this is the same Aristobulus who was the grandson of Herod, the great brother of Herod Agrippa.
But we don't know for sure. That would just be speculation. Verse 11. Greet my kinsmen Herodian. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. So that may be another kind of a context that may give weight to the argument that Aristobulus was the grandson of Herod, the great.
Because you have two kinsmen mentioned back to back, Aristobulus and Herodian. Greet my kinsmen Herodian. That would have been those who are fellow Jews with Paul. So as a possibility, but again, the scripture doesn't tell us.
Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. There's a very Greek name for you there. Greet those workers in the Lord, Traphena and Traphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
Now, again, we've had some names here that we don't recognize. They don't come up elsewhere in the scriptures. This one does, though. Verse 13. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
There's another place Rufus is mentioned, and it's just interesting to consider this, that Rufus is mentioned here. It may have been that Rufus comes up in the gospels because of just how much of a servant to the church he became.
Mark 15, verse 21. This is at the crucifixion of Jesus. This is as he's being led up to Golgotha, to Mount Calvary. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry Jesus' cross.
And they brought him to the place called Golgotha. So you have Simon's sons mentioned there. Why would they be mentioned? It could be because at the time that Mark wrote his gospel, these two young men had grown up in the service of the church.
And so Paul mentions him here in Romans 16, 13, and also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. What a servant she has been to the church. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
A list of men that we don't see elsewhere in the New Testament. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
I'm completely content with still shaking hands and not greeting with a holy kiss. Anyway, there's our list of saints and the works that they have contributed to the church that Paul gives praise for and tells the church there in Rome to welcome and greet them.
Likely because these are people who have been there or they're going there, or there is just this ongoing communication that exists between a lot of these churches, particularly the one that Paul is writing from there in Corinth and writing to the church in Rome.
This week, what we've read, finishing up Romans 15 and starting off Romans 16, we've seen some great examples about how we are to be as the church of Christ in this faith in which we are called. Let me conclude with these words from Jesus in Mark chapter 10.
This is starting in verse 28. Peter said to him, see, we have left everything and followed you. And Jesus said, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.
But many who are first will be last and the last will be first. And so here, even in this life, we have received many more brothers and sisters as we have come to this faith and been adopted into the family of God.
But as Jesus said here, we will receive these things with persecutions. The world will hate us because they hate God. But let us endure together in Christ. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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