Salute Maria, who laboured much for you.
Paul had never met the church at Rome as a gathered company, yet he closes his most weighty letter with a roll of names. One commentator draws attention to what that says about the man writing:
By grace he had searched into all the purposes of God. God had let him see things that cannot be told to anyone here on earth. Yet he remembered all that these humble Christians — these devoted women — had done for him and for the Lord. This is love. It is the real proof of the power of the Spirit of God. It is the bond of love.
These greetings are not mere politeness. Another writer reads the chapter as an account book of love:
The other circle is the inner one, in the last chapter. Here the apostle is busy drawing up a long list of debts of love. He owed them to his friends and to those who had suffered with him, and he knew he could never repay them... He also admits that he is a debtor to Mary, saying, "Greet Mary, who has worked hard for us."
Commentators differ here, because the Greek manuscripts differ: some read "on us," others "on you." The difference decides whether Mary served Paul personally or served the saints at Rome — and one writer notes that either way Paul is glad:
"Greet Maria" (or Mary; the reading differs), "who worked hard for you." (v. 6.) It is a question whether it should not read "for us." Much as the apostle would have valued work done for himself, his loving heart delighted in her abundant work for them.
Another writer takes the reading as settled, and links her with others who bore the name:
There was Mary, who worked hard for you — that is how we should read it, not "for us." Like others who bore that name, devoted service seems to have been her mark.
Paul does not just say she worked. He says she worked much. One writer treats such small additions as part of the inspired record:
Next we have "the well beloved Epaenetus," and "Mary," who gave not just labour but "much labour" for the apostle. It would not have expressed the mind of the Spirit, or the heart of Christ, to say only that Epaenetus was "beloved," or that Mary had given "labour." No. The two small words "well" and "much" were needed to show the exact place of each.
The Bible tells us nothing more about her. One writer notes her name, then turns her example into a question for the reader:
Maria was not the only Hebrew here, but she is the only one in this chapter with a Hebrew name. She had worked hard among them... His friends Prisca and Aquila may well have brought Paul the news of her work. The question is this: are we known for devoted and tireless work in the cause of Christ?
Her name also points the other way from the work she did:
"Greet Mary, who has worked hard for us." Here we have the blessed truth that God lifts up those who humble themselves (compare Luke 14:11). She had made herself a humble worker, by the love that delights to serve — yet her name means "exalted."
Mary is one of several women singled out in this chapter, and none of the mentions is careless:
Not only the brothers came in for notice. Romans 16 mentions many sisters, and none in a careless or random way. Phebe is a servant of the church at Cenchrea. Priscilla, named before her husband, is a helper... Mary gave much labour. The beloved Persis worked hard in the Lord.
One writer sets this chapter beside another record where every worker is named:
Everyone who worked in this good work is named, one by one, just as in Romans 16 the Lord takes pleasure in recording the faith and work of many people... So some stood out, others were only recorded, but all were recognized. The judgment seat of Christ will show the work of all believers, and some will receive more reward than others.
- Labour. Mary is remembered for one thing: hard work for God's people. That was enough to put her name in Scripture for ever.
- Much. "Much labour," not just "labour" — the extra word marks the exact size of what she gave.
- For whom. The text reads "for us" or "for you." Commentators differ, but Paul valued her work either way.
- Hidden. Nothing else about her is known. She stands among several women honoured here, and God notices none of them in a careless way.
- Recorded. What God records here, He will read out there. The judgment seat will bring every believer's work into the light.
Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and fellow-captives, who are of note among the apostles; who were also in Christ before me.
Paul ends a letter full of doctrine with a list of names. Verse 7 gives two of them, and every phrase raises a question: who were Andronicus and Junia, how were they known among the apostles, and what does it mean that they were "in Christ" before Paul?
The greeting is short, but nothing in it is dropped in carelessly.
We see how the apostle delights in noticing every distinctive form of service, relation, or fellowship.
Paul's list reaches far past these two.
The apostle forgot no service done to himself, and none done to the Lord. For nearly all of them he had a word of description or a remembered service. It touched their hearts, and it made his remembrance personal and real… Notice how many here served faithfully, in different ways, in the place where God had put them. They range from those of note among the apostles to Phoebe, the deaconess or servant of the church at Cenchrea, who had helped many. None of them are forgotten before God.
How literally should "fellow prisoners" be taken?
We do not have enough reason to say that Andronicus, Junias and Epaphras were actually bound in a chain, as the apostle was for Christ's sake. Yet it is a strong word: it means a captive, or a prisoner of war.
The family tie is not the highest thing Paul can say about them.
The claims of family are not forgotten. But with Andronicus and Junias, the higher claim to be remembered is that they had suffered with the Apostle as "fellow-prisoners".
The ESV reads "well known to the apostles"; older translations read "of note among the apostles." Commentators differ over the phrase. One writer weighs the options, and starts by asking what "kinsmen" means.
Andronicus and Junias were Paul's kinsmen. We cannot now tell whether this means they were fellow Israelites or even close relatives. They were of note among the apostles. This may mean they stood out among the messengers known in the churches, and that their ministry had something apostolic about it. But this might suggest there were more than twelve. And if Junia is the preferred reading, we might have a female apostle! That is not very likely, not least because Paul speaks of kinsmen. Perhaps it is easier to take the commendation this way: they had come to the special notice of those known as apostles, because they had served the Lord and His people well.
Another writer takes the title in its wider, plainer sense.
Barnabas was an apostle. Junius and Andronicus were of note among the apostles… In truth the word 'apostle,' though it has a fixed sense now, does not properly carry that sense. It simply means one who is sent, a missionary. The original calls the messenger of the Church "your apostle."
The last clause settles more than a date.
Some have claimed that those who are in Christ were always in Christ. That is not correct; they confuse God's purpose with redemption. We are told that we were all "by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." The apostle seems glad to admit that he knew some who had been brought into this wonderful blessing before he was.
The phrase does not cover everybody.
All mankind is not "in Christ." Born into this world, the offspring of a fallen race, we are all "in Adam." To be "in Christ" means to be saved, to believe in the Lord as Saviour. Christians can look back to the moment in their life when they put their faith in the Lord and passed from death to life.
That these two believed before Paul fits how the church in Rome began.
God in His wisdom ordered that no apostle should plant the gospel in the imperial city. Rome cannot truly claim a church that began through an apostle, as Jerusalem, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus and many smaller places can. We know that on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was first given, Roman Jews were staying in Jerusalem and heard the gospel there. (Acts 2; compare also Rom. 16:7.)
- Noticed. Paul marks out every kind of service, relation and fellowship. From those of note among the apostles down to Phoebe, none is forgotten.
- Kin. Paul honours the family tie, but he names something higher: these two shared his prison. His word means a war captive.
- Note. Commentators differ over "of note among the apostles." Some read "apostle" in the wider sense of a sent one, or missionary. Others read praise from the recognised apostles.
- Named. The second name reads as either Junia or Junias. That, with Paul's word "kinsmen," is why one writer calls a female apostle here unlikely.
- In Christ. Nobody was always in Christ; the phrase starts at faith. That is why two relatives could enter it before Paul did, and why the gospel was in Rome before he wrote.