The conclusion of the Epistle
1. This is scarcely the kind of conclusion that one would have expected. One would have thought that the rapt apostle, having been borne to the loftiest circles of contemplation, would have now flung his inspired pen upon the page he had immortalised. Instead of this, he threads his way into many of the minutest details of Christian life, and concludes his unparalleled effort by blessing many who had lightened his toil.
2. We dare now approach the apostle. While he was pursuing some of the issues of his “great argument,” we could but gaze with fearfulness (Romans 11:33). Now he speaks friendship’s simple and holy word we can better see the man. This summary of friendly reminiscences and fraternal salutatlons--
I. Reveals the true bond of moral unity.
1. Look at the representative character of the list. You have men and women, old and young, prisoners and freemen, apostles of note and persons who are lost in obscurity; men of prudence and of enthusiasm. What is the secret of union between such a community and the solitary apostle? Love. This is the indissoluble bond. Every other tie snaps. Some persons have suggested that Paul was not the most lovable of men. Probably this was so according to the common canons, but so much the worse for the common canons. Paul was a man who made enemies every day, but the man who is most hated is also the man who is most loved. While forty Jews would enter into a vow to kill him, Priscilla and Aquila would lay “down their own necks” to save him from a blow. You could not comprehend this man in one day’s acquaintance. He did not publish a full edition of himself every day. He must be much known to be much loved. Hence the affection of this representative community. They had sat with him by the quiet fireside; in the man-revealing company of little children; they had heard him thrill the vast assembly; they had listened to him praying within their own homes; they had seen him make Felix quake and turn Agrippa pale; and the closeness of their acquaintance explained the depth of their affection.
2. Here is encouragement for all true moral labourers. You may meet with much ingratitude, yet if you truly labour you will come into a large estate of love, and love will do more for us than genius or wealth or prestige.
II. Justifies the employment of both sexes in moral service. Note--
1. The honourable mention which is made of certain beloved sisters; and it is not to be overlooked that they are referred to as directly connected with Church work. Phebe was a deaconess and went to Rome on a Church errand. The apostle’s testimony concerning her is brief, but full of significance. It is as though he had said, When the eye sees her it blesses her. Little children hail her presence as they hail the morning sunshine. Misery dries its eyes when she approaches; she never puts out her hand except to succour the servants of Christ. Priscilla was a “helper in Christ Jesus”; the beloved Persis “laboured much in the Lord”; and Mary “bestowed much labour.” Thus shall the righteous be had in everlasting remembrance. If you ask me whether I object to a woman preaching, I answer, I never object to any woman doing a good thing. Apart from this, however, there is much Church-work which a woman can do much better than a man. At the same time note Titus 2:1-5.
2. The great diversity in their methods of operation. Tryphena and Tryphosa laboured in the Lord; Persis laboured “much” in the Lord. Tryphena and Tryphosa may represent either those who can only do a little, but who do that little with all their heart; or those half-day teachers who could come both times, but prefer not to do so; our attendants who regulate their evangelical zeal by the barometer, and who are now sunny as July, now sullen as November. On the other hand, Persis is always at work; she can never do enough; her godly ambition is never satisfied.
3. That all those persons laboured “in the Lord.” If you ask me whether unconverted persons should teach in the Sabbath School, I answer--Teach what? If the Sabbath School aims to teach the way of salvation, then how can those who do not know that way teach it? How can the man who does not know geometry teach geometry? It is argued that many by so doing have found salvation. I know it. I rejoice in it. At the same time it is a risky experiment. Would you engage a dishonest man to teach your children honesty, in the hope that by so doing he might become conscientious? Would you engage an unskilled man to teach your children music, with the hope that he himself might gain skill through practice? If some teachers have become saved, may not some scholars have been lost, or have received wrong ideas of religion? The school had better be taught by one man who loves Jesus than by a thousand who have only heard of Him.
III. Warrants the exercise of discrimination as to the respective merits of moral labourers. The apostle connects the highest encomium with some names, and only mentions others. As an honest man he entertains different opinions about different people. He loves some, and others he loves very much. Imagine the Church assembled to hear this letter read. To one name there is a compliment, to another none! Amplias is “my beloved in the Lord,” while not a word is said about Philologus or Julia! Andronicus and Junia are “of note among the apostles”; while Nereus and his sister are coldly mentioned without a flower being flung to either of them! Apelles is “approved in Christ”; but not a word is said about Olympas! Think what jealousy might have been fired in the Roman breast! Only grace could overcome the passions under such circumstances. Let us beware of envy. (J. Parker, D.D.)
The conclusion of the Epistle as a revelation of Paul’s character
As, in the main body of the Epistle, Paul appears to have been a very knowing man, so, in these appurtenances of it, he appears to have been a very loving man. (Matthew Henry.)
The salutations
I. Why should such a catalogue of obscure names find a place in what was intended to be a universal and permanent revelation of the Divine will?
1. It is obvious to remark that if by mentioning them by name was fitted to answer a good end in the Church for whose advantage the Epistle was primarily written, that is a sufficient reason. Such kind remembrances were plainly fitted to knit more closely the bonds of Christian love between them and the apostle, and between him and the as yet unknown members of the Church. To the persons noticed it must have been gratifying and stimulating, and while elevating them in the estimation of their brethren, it enlarged their sphere of useful influence. It must have been felt by all as a compliment to the Church, and have called forth kindly feelings from all toward Paul.
2. But the passage is useful for all time and in all places.
(1) It strongly corroborates the evidence of the genuineness of the Epistle. It could not have occurred to a forger to have introduced such a train of salutations, especially as the author had never been at Rome.
(2) It presents a very lovely picture of living Christianity both in the writer and those whom he greets. We see how well the principles of that religion harmonise with and draw forth all that is amiable and tender in the human constitution; how consistent a deep knowledge of Christianity and an ardent zeal for its progress are with the dignified proprieties of an advanced state of civilisation, and the gentle charities and graceful delicacies of the most refined friendship. These things considered, the passage is a striking illustration of--“All Scripture … is profitable.”
II. How came the apostle to be so intimate with the inhabitants of a city he had never seen? Some suppose that Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:2-3; Acts 18:11) had given him much particular information respecting members of the Roman Church. Perhaps so; but the true account seems to have been this. Rome was then the metropolis of the world. There was a constant influx of persons from all quarters of the empire to that city. Paul had now for nearly thirty years been engaged in various parts, and it is not at all wonderful that many of his converts should have taken up their residence in the capital. A man who for thirty years had mixed with society throughout the leading towns of England and Scotland, on visiting London for the first time would be likely to find himself in the midst of friends. Besides the ordinary reasons which make men leave the provinces for the metropolis there was this, that till the imperial persecutions Christians seem to have been safer in Rome than anywhere else. (J. Brown, D.D.)
The salutations
The change from sustained argument and lofty appeal to these simple greetings is like a descent from the heart of some grand mountain scenery to the levels of a country garden. Note--
I. The particular salutations.
1. The term may be simply equivalent to our own ordinary message of Christian remembrance or regard. In one place, however, it becomes more definite. “Salute one another with a holy kiss.” The kiss was no more than the clasp of the hand among ourselves. But it early acquired a certain specific meaning in the Christian fellowship under the name of “the holy kiss,” “the kiss of charity,” or “the kiss of peace.” It is mentioned by Justin Martyr as a recognised part of the communion-service. The custom remained for centuries as a symbol of reconciliation, and its spirit still survives wherever “brethren dwell together in unity.”
2. There is another mark of primitive times in “the church that is in their house,” “the brethren that are with them.” The Roman believers met, not in one large hall, but in different private houses. Our Epistle would have to travel from one to another till all had opportunities of hearing it. One advantage of this lay in the fact that they would be little likely to catch the eye of the government. Another lay in the homeliness and heartiness which they imparted to the Christian service and life, which, with our more finished organisations, we are very liable to lose. “Where two or three are gathered together,” etc.
3. We have no photographs of those ancient saints, yet as we read we can see them, and catch their look of pleasure as each name is uttered and each greeting received. Shadows they are to the casual reader, but every name represents a separate Christian soul, and usually a vivid phrase of description helps to stamp the name upon the memory.
(1) In one verse is a batch of bare names, all unknown. One wonders what manner of men were these (verse 14).
(2) Here is another list, with a certain sense of domestic life underlying it, but nothing more (verse 15).
(3) Others, again, are marked by a single term of affection or of commendation (verse 9).
(4) But we have wider openings into character in the salutations to those of the household of Aristobulus and Narcissus. Both would have large retinues of slaves, and it is to slaves that the present reference is probably to be applied.
(5) “Salute Herodion my kinsman.” The word is also applied to five others. Had Paul, then, so many Christian cousins? It would be gratifying to believe it, but as he speaks of “My brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,” meaning his fellow-countrymen, no doubt he here addresses Christian Jews.
(6) There is an exquisite touch in the notice of Rufus (verse 13), who has been sometimes identified as the son of Simon the Cyrenian; but the name was common. Who, and what, however, was she who had two claimants on her motherly attention? Perhaps when Paul’s mother had cast him off this Christian lady took in the great friendless man, and treated him like her own Rufus, and made him welcome to her home, as Peter was to Mary’s home in Jerusalem.
(7) Here, again, are glimpses of Christian experience, which would be otherwise unknown to us (verses 5, 7). For “Achaia” in the former passage most of the ancient MSS. have “Asia.” Epenetus then was probably an Ephesian, led to Christ at the time of Paul’s first visit, the firstfruits of his ministry there, and the pledge of all that followed. In Andronicus and Junia we have firstfruits of the gospel during its yet earlier triumphs, while Saul was breathing out slaughter against the name of Jesus. Were they among the “strangers of Rome” converted at Pentecost? It appears so, and as “apostles” in the broader acceptation of the word they were noted for their energy and success. They were “fellow-prisoners” also; the trials as well as the labours of the kingdom they had bravely borne.
(8) The best-known names are Priscilla and Aquila. Comrades, “helpers in Christ Jesus,” at whose side Paul had so often sat stitching the tough hair-cloth, and, when work was laid by, had so joyfully bent in prayer! He thought of all that fellowship; but here his most vivid recollection is of some extremity of danger, where that gallant pair interposed at the risk of limb and life to save “the light of Israel.” Paul never forgot a kindness or forsook a friend.
(9) We must not fail to glance round the group that surrounds the apostle as he dictates these last sentences. They are waiting to add their salutations. There are his brother-missionaries; first, Timotheus, specially singled out as “my workfellow,” then Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, strangers to him a few years ago, but now his very “kinsmen “ in Christ. There sits the scribe, interrupting the writing, and inserting his own greeting in his own name (verse 22). The hospitable Gaius, under whose roof they all gathered, next breathes his brotherly blessing. And finally occur the names of two Corinthian Christians who would seem to have come in by accident. Both Erastus, the “chamberlain of the city,” and Quartus, probably a slave, in Christ Jesus are on the same level; one sentence serves to carry word from both.
II. The general impressions which the salutations are fitted to leave. Note--
1. Their heartiness. There are those who hold that either to bestow praise, or to accept it, is inconsistent with Christian simplicity. No doubt there is a danger lest we become elated with a sense of our usefulness. Yet as the Lord Himself hath need of us, welcomes every earnest effort, and says of it, “Well done!” He will scarcely deny us the privilege of saying “Well done” to one another. Let the eye run down this single page and mark how well these saints did. Let us be by all means honest and candid, where it is needful, in censuring our brethren’s faults, but shall not honesty carry us also in the opposite direction?
2. Their earnest and affectionate friendliness. The apostle sits down, as an elder brother might, and is on the warmest-terms with every one--the slaves no less than the masters, simple “brethren” equally with chamberlains. What was this but treading in the track of the Master who had said, “Whosoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven, the same is My brother and My sister and mother”? No one can urge that we have too much of that spirit in our modern churches. And yet how many of our social and ecclesiastical troubles would pass if it more generally prevailed!
3. If these Christians really loved one another with so ardent an affection what did they do to prove it? The answer is that they “laid down their own necks” for one another; they “bestowed much labour” on their brethren. They threw their houses open for hospitable entertainment and united worship. They stood ready to help a foreign sister in whatever business she might have in hand. The poor, the sick, the friendless, became the special objects of their care. That can have been no hollow profession which inspired the confession from their enemies, “Behold how they love one another!” Conclusion: The Epistle closes in an atmosphere of warm and genial affection. We too wish one another well. Is it not enough? Nay; there is another voice to be heard, and a more gracious greeting to be bestowed, and a dearer fellowship to be enjoyed (verse 24). (W. Brock.)
The salutations to the Church at Rome prove that Christianity
I. Not only teaches friendship, but sanctifies it.
II. Not only requires the proprieties of life, but beautifies them. Here are--
1. Salutations to friends.
2. Commendations of merit.
3. Tokens of respect for the aged and experienced.
4. Kind words for all.
III. Not only inculcates love, but enforces the practice of it.
1. Some succoured the Church.
2. Some helped the minister.
3. All loved one another.
IV. Not only insists upon love and piety, but righteously rewards them. Consider this honourable record.
1. Mark the special distinctions it exhibits.
2. Be sure that the same will be the case in the entries made in the book of life. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The salutations of St. Paul
I. Throw light upon the apostle’s character. We are at once reminded of “the care of all the churches” which rested upon him, He had not founded this Roman Church, and yet with what a warmth of Christian affection does he regard it, while there are some in it whom he mentions with an emphasis of special regard whom he had known in other Churches. With the burden of all the Churches weighing upon his heart every hour he forgets no act of kindness.
II. Refuting the Petrine origin of the Roman Church, upon which the assumptions of the Papacy are based. There is no well-authenticated evidence that Peter ever lived in Rome at all. He is spoken of as “the apostle of the circumcision,” just as Paul was “the apostle of the uncircumcision,” and we expect to find him exercising his pastorate at Jerusalem rather than at Rome, and accordingly it is to Jerusalem that Paul goes, and there he repeatedly finds him. But on the supposition that he presided over this Church, it must have been by the time that Paul wrote this Epistle. And if so, could Paul have omitted his name from these salutations? And if Peter had ever been there at an earlier period, would there have been no grateful reference now to the good which he had done? The truth is that the first link in the chain of argument for the papal supremacy is wanting, and this makes the rest worthless.
III. Give us information as to the manner in which members were transferred from one Church to another. Phebe was a deaconess in the Church at Cenchrea, and probably a widow possessed of considerable worldly substance, whose business now carried her to Rome. And so she brings with her, written by Paul in his own name and in that of the Church, a certificate, in which not only her Church membership is attested, but witness is borne to the many good services she had performed in her native Church; and her brethren at Rome are asked to recompense her in some degree for her ministries of love. Note two valuable and interesting facts--the oneness of all the Churches in those primitive times, and the fact that membership in one at once secured a loving welcome into every other. Phebe was to feel that she was really passing from one home to another. What a lesson, if not a rebuke, to our Churches in this matter! The transference of members is too much a mere cold formality, alike in giving and receiving, and hundreds of persons change their residences without a letter of commendation at all. Is it any wonder, then, that so many pass out of sight altogether?
IV. Indicating those who are worthy of special commendation.
1. There are those of whom Paul speaks with great warmth, because of their general Christian excellence and eminence. Such were Epenetus, Stachys, Ampllas, and Apelles.
2. Then there were others who stood forth as specially distinguished by one particular excellence.
(1) We distinguish among the givers Aquila, Priscilla, and Urbane his helpers, and Phebe, “the succourer,” etc. The form which this liberality took was doubtless shaped by outward circumstances, but the relief of the poor, the orphan, and the widow, defraying the expenses of a constantly extending evangelism, and the hospitable entertainment of Christian strangers, were prevailing forms of goodness. We know that one great aim of the early teachers was to educate its members to habits of giving, so that it should not be a mere fitful effort. It was the gospel that first did earnest battle with the selfishness of man, and turned beneficence into a system. And when Julian tried to engraft such beneficence upon the sapless tree of paganism, he complained that while the heathen did nothing for the support of their own poor, the Christians ministered to the wants of all.
(2) Then how many an earnest worker there was in that Church, such as Mary, Tryphena and Tryphosa, and Persis! The form of their sacred labour would a]so be shaped by their natural capacities, by the wants of the Church and the community, and also by the advice of pastors. Many would teach, and others would be found lodging strangers, relieving the afflicted, and diligently following every good work.
(3) And there were earnest sufferers too, such as “Andronicus and Junta,” who had been Paul’s companions in prison; and “Priscilla and Aquila, who for his life had laid down their own necks.” Thus did the spirit already begin to show itself which was afterwards to shine forth in many a glorious martyrdom.
V. Show the important place which Christian women held in the early Church, and which we may therefore conclude they were intended to hold as workers in all ages in the Church of Christ. In this brief enumeration of sixteen verses nine or ten women are named as having been fellow-helpers with the apostle, and having consecrated themselves to “the fellowship of She ministry to the saints.” No doubt the peculiar condition of society, which to a great extent isolated women, rendered the labours of Christian women indispensable. And it would seem as if a splendid sphere of usefulness were at this hour opening up before Christian women in connection with missionary enterprise in the East. There are more than fifty millions of women in India who are only accessible by the gospel through women.
VI. Illustrate the domestic character of Christianity. On one occasion at least, when mentioning a husband and wife, the apostle speaks of “the Church which was in their house.” It may be that a number of the Christians were accustomed to come together in a private house for social worship. But the kernel-thought around which all the others gather is that all the members of that family were Christian believers, and that they therefore formed a little Church, as every such family does, with its worship, its Christian teaching, its mutual oversight, and its unity and love. Conclusion:
1. Suppose the apostle were now on earth, and were to write a letter to this congregation, Should I be spoken of as one who had “succoured the saints”? etc.
2. In Paul’s later Epistles his salutations become fewer and fewer--the greater number of those whom he had known having died. It is a solemn thought, “The night cometh wherein no man can work.” (A. Thomson, D. D.)
Apostolic commendations and cautions
For many reasons this chapter is a fitting conclusion to the Epistle. For--
(1) It indicates to us that doctrine is subservient to personal piety.
(2) That very sacred social ties should exist between a pastor and his people.
(3) That right relationship to Christ creates a right mutual relationship between men. Note--
I. The commendations and greetings of the apostle. The commendation of Phebe, who is as a sweet flower in the landscape where the apostle himself is a majestic oak, and all the commendations and greetings that follow, lead us to look at true Church fellowship--
1. In its variety. There are men and women of varied
(1) stations,
(2) characters,
(3) services. There is the chamberlain and the slave; the active and passive temperament, the laborious and the hospitable.
2. Its common elements. Common--
(1) Relationship, “Our sister.”
(2) Service, “Succourer of many.”
(3) Principle, “As it becometh saints.”
II. His cautions. The saddest fact in this, and in all these early letters, is the tone in which the apostle has to speak to many professed Christians. In his words of caution about one and another we notice--
1. The mournfulness of the fact that professed Christians have to be so spoken of.
2. The discernment and courage needed rightly to deal with such characters.
III. The greetings from one Church to another. Here Corinth greets Rome. Christianity creates relationships that are--
1. Cosmopolitan. The inherent element of a Church is that it is Catholic.
2. Cordial, “Holy kiss.”
3. Practical, “Receive.” (U. R. Thomas.)
Personal messages
1. If a modern clergyman were writing to his old parishioners, what would be more natural than at the end of the letter he should add affectionate remembrances to any poor pensioners and aged widows whom he had known? Felix Neff, the Apostle of the High Alps, two days before his death, being scarcely able to see, traced the following lines at different intervals, in large and irregular characters, “Adieu, dear friend Andre Blanc, Antoine Blanc, all my friends, Pelissiers whom I love tenderly; Francis Dumont and his wife, Isaac and his wife, beloved Deslois, Emilie Bonnet, etc., Alexandrine and her mother, all, all the brethren and sisters of theirs, adieu, adieu.”
2. Doubtless when Paul’s greetings were first read in the little churches they would have been listened to with the deepest interest. The slave or the poor woman who heard his or her name mentioned, “How kind, how good it was of Paulus to remember me What a help it is to me to know that the dear and holy apostle, with the care of all the churches upon him, and living as he does in the midst of plots and of perils, yet thinks of and prays for me! If I be dear to him, must I not also be dear to his Lord and to mine?”
3. But why should it be to us a part of our public worship to hear these salutations read to-day? There is no more in these names of Amplias, etc., than in the names of Brown, or Jones, or Smith. They were just the names of poor, ordinary persons, on whom the nobles or the careless women would have looked down with scorn. And yet very genuine, lessons may be learned from these lists of names. Note--
I. The overflowing affectionateness of the heart of Paul, which should teach us the lesson of kindliness, the family affection of the Christian life. Christians needed each other’s help in those days. They were as lambs among wolves. “See how those Christians love one another,” said the envious heathen then. Alas! they would have little cause to say so now. But these lists of names may at least serve to remind us of the beauty of the lost ideal.
II. His regard for Christian women, which should teach us the glory of Christian womanhood. The world has never recognised the vast debt it owes to Christian women. Even in this day, though women do more than men in the great works of quiet, unobtrusive charity, and are incomparably more thorough, patient, tender, skilful, and self-denying than the vast majority of men, yet they might well complain that they are far less cared for in our public exhortations than men. Well, it was not so with Paul In this chapter alone seven Christian women are recognised with words of gentleness and praise. In this day the minds of holy and noble women may well be pained by the mock deference and hypocritical compliments which are paid them. There is not the faintest trace of this in Paul. For foolish and unworthy women he had words of deserved scorn. In days when women lived for the most part in unavoidable ignorance and seclusion, and were shamefully regarded as the mere chattels and servants of man’s caprice and wickedness, Paul’s illuminated soul had recognised the sacred and beautiful type of Christian womanhood.
III. His honour for slaves, which should teach us the dignity of man as man. Many whom Paul here salutes are slaves and men of poor and mean condition. It is the nature of the world to fawn upon the great; they are ashamed to know the poor. A. slave was as great as a Caesar, because for slave and Caesar Christ had died. Nay, a despised slave might be much more to him. For man in himself is less than nothing; he is great in God only, if he is great at all. A few short days both emperor and slave would die, and then the one might be wailing in outer darkness, while the other, amid acclaim of angels, might tread “the heavenly Jerusalem’s rejoicing streets.”
IV. His discriminating eulogies. Being addressed to Christians--in days when to be a Christian was to be persecuted--he was writing presumably to good men. Yet even between good men there is a difference, and Paul uses only the language of deserved praise. What comfort there is in the thought that, as God bestows on us different gifts, so also He expects from us different forms of service! All branches cannot bear the same fruit; “all members have not the same office.” Mary has her work, and Phebe hers; Urbane has his work, and Apelles his; and some of us, perhaps, think with a sigh that we do little or no work. Well, if we are but trying to do what little we can, let us be content. We may then be like Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Hermes, and Patrobas, of whom nothing is said. Better to be the nameless ciphers of Christianity than to be of the world’s guilty kings.
V. The mere casual mention of these names by Paul has given them a sort of immortality. Horace might have sung of them--he does actually mention one or two of the same names; Seneca might have mentioned them among his brilliant aphorisms; Tacitus might have introduced them in his histories, yet they would still have been incomparably less eternised. Little thought those slaves and poor women that their names would be on our lips to-day, in what was then a remote and savage island. Centuries after they are dead we still speak of them, and yet, grotesque their names certainly are--Phebe, Hermas, Hermes, Nereus--names of heathen gods and goddesses in which people had quite ceased to believe, half jocosely given to the slaves of their families; Staehys, a corn ear; Asyneritus, the incomparable; Persis, the Persian woman, known only by her nationality; Tryphena the “wanton,” and Tryphosa “the luxurious”--names perhaps once insultingly given to a class, now meekly borne. They had other names, new names, in heaven. Five, ten, fifteen years hence, and how many of you who hear me will be utterly forgotten! Fifty years hence, all but one or two of us, it may be, will be lying in our coffins, our names perhaps already illegible on the worn stone, and nobody knowing or caring who lies below. No Paul will mention us. And what does it matter if our names are written in “the Lamb’s Book of Life”? (Archdeacon Farrar.)
Apostolic greetings
I. They are valuable as--
1. A source of gratification to the persons named.
2. A stimulus to themselves and others.
3. A tribute to the Christian community at Rome.
4. A corroboration of the genuineness of the Epistle.
5. A means of promoting union between the Jews and Gentiles, and both and himself.
II. True Christianity is characterised by--
1. Whatever is tender and amiable in human nature.
2. The graceful proprieties of an advanced civilisation.
3. The gentle charities and delicacy of refined friendship.
Grace sanctifies the courtesies of life and refines the manners. It is quite friendly to the graces and amenities of social intercourse. Forms of politeness are most beautiful when animated by spiritual life.
III. There are five classes mentioned in these greetings.
1. Helpers and fellow-labourers, as Aquila, Mary, etc.
2. Relatives and countrymen, as Andronicus, etc.
3. Paul’s own Converts and well-known friends, as Epenetus, etc.
4. Societies, as the church in Aquila’s house.
5. Households, or parts of such, as that of Aristobulus, etc.
IV. In these greetings may be noticed--
1. The kindness of Paul in naming so many.
2. Special regard to individuals, combined with love to all.
3. Grateful remembrance of past kindnesses.
4. Those specially distinguished who laboured most. The care of the Churches did not efface remembrance of persons. Believers least likely to forget their friends.
Their mutual remembrance lively because--
1. Pounded in a spiritual, therefore deep affection.
2. Kept always fresh at the throne of grace. Those are well remembered who are remembered before God.
V. In those greeted we have--
1. A group of star pictures of apostolic times.
2. A lovely representation of living Christians.
3. A splendid testimony to the riches of Divine grace. Roman, Greek, and Hebrew names promiscuously introduced. (T. Robinson, D.D.)
The true aristocracy
Many names in “The Peerage” have won their distinction by intrigues and base services rendered to bad kings, and there are many who study and prize such books more than the Book of books. The register before us is given by a man before whose intellectual and moral greatness the most brilliant names in worldly peerages sink into contempt. The names that this great man enrols are those of poor women, obscure men, and slaves.
I. The chief interest which a truly great man has in others is in their character, rather than in their condition. In this list of twenty-six names there are those who differ in their sex, age, worldly position, etc., yet the apostle overlooks all these differences, and expresses an interest only in their character. Why? Because this is--
1. The only real property. It is the only thing that a man can call his own.
2. The only property man can carry with him. Everything else--houses, lands, gold, and silver--he leaves behind. But his moral character he carries over Jordan.
3. That which determines his destiny. From it must bloom his paradise or flame his hell.
II. The character which enlists the profoundest interest of a truly great man is the Christly one. “Who labour in the Lord.”
1. Living and working in--
(1) The Spirit.
(2) Purpose.
(3) Character, and
(4) Moral temper of Christ.
2. Why should a Christly character command such tender sympathy? Because it is--
(1) The highest reflection of his Master. Good men are incarnations of Him whom all heaven adores.
(2) The highest organ of usefulness. It is in itself the strongest argument against all infidelities, and the strongest proof of the Divinity of the gospel.
III. Those who enlist the chief interest of a truly great man are the most honourable of their age. Who will deny or question this? Parasites and sycophants have always shown more sympathy of their miserable natures for martial pageantry, official pomp, than for Christly character. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
Whom does the apostle distinguish as worthy of the highest estimation
Those who, like--
I. Phebe, are succourers of many.
II. Priscilla and aquila, helpers.
III. Epaenetus, androincus and junia, have long and faithfully served Christ.
IV. Amplias and apelles, beloved and approved in the Lord.
V. PERSIS, labour much in the Lord.
VI. Asyncritus, and others, steadfast in Christian fellowship. In a word, all who are eminently distinguished by Christian love. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Romans, but not Romanists
The text--
I. Illustrates the various relations of families to the Church.
1. In verse 3 you have a household in which the husband and the wife were joined to the Church. When two loving hearts pull together they accomplish wonders. What different associations cluster around the names of Ananias and Sapphira! I do not know why Paul placed the wife first, for in the Acts it is the reverse. Perhaps it was because Priscilla was first in energy of character and attainments in grace. Whether the wife be first or second matters little if both be truly the servants of God. Pray unceasingly that your life-companions may be converted to God. Paul spoke of the Church that was in their house. It is well when a Christian family judge that the parlour will be honoured by being used for a prayer meeting. Such a dwelling becomes like the house of Obededom.
2. In verse 7 Andronicus and Junta represent part of a very remarkable household, for they were kinsmen of Paul, and they were converted to God before Paul was. I have wondered whether the conversion of Adronicus and Junta excited in him his fury against Christ; but it is more than probable that their prayers were part of the means of his conversion. This should act as a great encouragement for all who desire the salvation of their households. Out of persecutors God can make apostles.
3. In verse 10 we have a family whose head was not a Christian. Why leave Aristobulus out? Because he had left himself out; he was no believer, and therefore there could be no Christian salutation sent to him. The kingdom of God was in his house, and yet he was unblessed by it. Where are you, Aristobulus? The Lord sends a message of grace to your child and wife, but not to you, for you have not given your heart to Him. Another instance, and a worse one, is in verse 11. There was a Narcissus at this period who was extremely rich, and as bad as he was rich. Yet while blasphemous songs, gluttony, and licentiousness made his mansion a very hell, there was a saving salt in the slaves’ dormitory. He who blacks your shoes may be one of the beloved of the Lord, while you who wear them may be without God and without hope in the world.
4. In verse 12 we have, I suppose, two sisters: where were their brothers, their father, their mother? How often there are in the Church two humble, faithful women, and all the rest far off from God! Brother, let not your sister go to heaven alone. Father, if your daughters be children of God, do not you remain His enemy.
5. In verse 15 we have a brother and sister. It is pleasant to see the stronger and weaker sex thus associated. But had they no other relatives? Depend upon it, they often prayed together for all the rest.
6. In verse 13 there are a mother and her son. When a godly woman is a tender mother, it is no wonder if her sons become believers, for the mother’s love and example draw them towards Jesus. There is a legend connected with Rufus and Alexander, that when their father Simon was compelled to bear the Cross, one carried his father’s pick, and the other his spade. If they cannot bear the Cross, they will at least help their father by carrying his tools. Who marvels if Alexander and Rufus saw their father carry Christ’s Cross so well, that they, too, should afterwards count it their glory to be followers of the Crucified.
II. Shows what are points of interest among Christians. In a worldly community the point of interest is, how much is a man worth? Now Paul does not make a single reference to any one on account of his position, property, or office, except so far as those may be implied in the service which each person rendered to the cause of God. The points of interest with Paul are--
1. Their service for the Church (verses 1, 2). It is a distinction among Christians to be allowed to serve, and the most menial employment for the Church is the most honourable. So Phebe shall have her name inscribed in this golden book of Christ’s nobility, because she is the servant of the Church, and because, in being such, she succoured the poor and needy.
2. Their labour (verse 6). Mary was one of those useful women who took personal care of the preacher, because she believed the life of God’s servant to be precious. Then follow Tryphena and Tryphosa, “who labour in the Lord”; and Persis, who “laboured much in the Lord.” I do not suppose Tryphena and Tryphosa were angry because the apostle made this distinction, but it is certainly a very explicit one. Degrees in honour among believers are graduated by the scale of service done.
3. Their character. Verse 13 cannot allude to Rufus’ election, since all the rest were chosen too, but must mean that he was a choice man in the Lord. Apelles was “approved in Christ,” a tried and experienced believer. Epaenetus (verse 5) is singled out because of the time of his conversion. While every minister feels a peculiar attachment to all his converts, he has the tenderest memory of the first ones. What parent does not prize above all others his first child?
III. Reveals the general love which ought to exist in the Church of God.
1. The whole passage shows the love of the apostle towards the brethren at Rome. He would not have taken the trouble to write all this to them if he had not really loved them. And it shows that there were Christians in those days who were full of love to each other. The holy kiss marked their fervour of love.
1. The early Christians were accustomed to show their love to one another--
(1) By practical help. I do not think that the apostle alluded to any Church business, but to her own. I do not know what it was, and it was no part of an apostle’s commission to tell us other people’s business; but whatever business it was, if any Christian in Rome could help her he was to do so.
(2) When it involved great sacrifices (verse 4).
2. Christian love in those days--
(1) Had the great respect for those who had suffered for Christ(verse 7).
(2) Honoured workers (verse 6). Paul speaks of the labourers over and over again with intense affection.
(3) Had its specialities. “My we!l-beloved Epaenetus,” “Amplias my beloved,” etc., etc. There were some whom he liked better than others, and even the Lord had a disciple whom He loved more than the rest. There are Christian people whom you could live with in heaven comfortably enough, but it is a severe trial to bear with them on earth; but since God puts up with them, so ought you.
(4) Was wont to respect seniority in spiritual life; for Paul speaks of some who were in Christ before himself.
(5) Did not overlook the most obscure members of the Church. “Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas,” etc. We know nothing about those good people. They were like the most of us, commonplace individuals; but they loved the Lord, and therefore Paul sent them a message of love which has become embalmed in the Holy Scriptures. It were better to be the meanest Christian than to be the greatest sinner. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The truly honourable in the Church of Christ
I. Their distinction.
1. In general they are all recognised as brethren in Christ. Are we? In particular they are distinguished by--
(1) Faithful and zealous service.
(2) Patient suffering.
(3) Long and consistent attachment to the cause of Christ.
(4) Eminent piety and Christian love. Do any of these features apply to us?
II. Its value.
1. Their names--
(1) Are in good report; are ours?
(2) Are immortalised, and will endure as long as the Word of God; will ours?
2. This record of them is the guarantee that their names are in the book of life; are ours? (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Christian love
is--
1. Large in its comprehensiveness.
2. Kind in its expressions.
3. Just in its acknowledgments.
4. Tender and affectionate to all. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
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