Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2)

Some may wonder why Romans 16 is in the Bible. After all, it is only a list of names. Of course, there is something very important about the people who are mentioned. This aspect is not in their social standing or in their ethnic identity or in their age. What is this most important detail? Jesus Christ had changed each one of them.

When we see the list from this perspective, then we will see the appropriateness of including this list of names in the Bible. After all, is this not what the gospel is designed for? The gospel is not mainly a theory or a topic for theological discussion. Instead, it is a life-changing message about the possibility of our sins being forgiven because Jesus died in the place of sinners when he suffered on the cross of Calvary. The individuals mentioned in this list had each experienced this remarkable change.

The Bible would remind us that their names are recorded in another book as well. This other book is called ‘The Lamb’s Book of Life’. Jesus is the Lamb who keeps the book. Because their names were also written in this book, the men and women recorded in Romans 16 are now in heaven. At one time, they lived in the most important city of man of their day (Rome); now they live in the eternal city of God.

Of course, this list does not cover every Christian who lived in Rome at the time. Instead it is a list of people whom Paul had met personally or knew about from another source. But we should note how affectionately he speaks about them. Regarding them, he tries to give a brief description of an aspect of who they are. Is this not a challenge to how we sometimes speak of one another?

It is possible, perhaps likely, that many of these individuals became martyrs for the sake of Jesus a few years later. If they were still in Rome when the Emperor Nero decided to use the Christians as scapegoats for his own mad behavior, then they could have experienced the fires literally.

It would be interesting to know a little bit more about some of them. For example, take Priscilla and Aquila in verses 3-5: when did they risk their lives for Paul and what did they do that would cause every church then in existence to give thanks to God for them? It is reckoned that Priscilla was from a very high social class in Rome. I wonder how she came to know the Saviour.

Or what about Rufus and his mother mentioned in verse 13? Is this a reference to one of the sons and to the wife of Simon of Cyrene who was forced to help Jesus carry his cross to Calvary? Many believe it is (because Mark, who perhaps wrote his Gospel initially for the church in Rome, mentions that Alexander and Rufus were the sons of Simon).

Or what about Epaenetus, whom Paul says was the first convert to Christ in Asia? When did that happen and why was he now in Rome? We cannot find out the answers to those questions in this life, but we will when we join them one day in the Father’s house.

All the individuals mentioned in the chapter didn’t live in Rome. Paul mentions several men who were with him in Corinth (vv. 21-23) and he mentions one woman in verse 1 – Phoebe. We all owe her a great debt because she carried the letter from Paul that we call the Epistle to the Romans to its first readers. She had to journey several hundred miles with a precious possession in her hands.

As we think about this reality, two details come to mind. First, here we have another example of how fragile the future of God’s cause can sometimes be. Who would entrust such a precious treasure to such a weak carrier? Paul did at the human level and God did at the divine level. We should not be surprised when God uses someone who seems fragile.

Second, here we have an example of the great amount of blessing that can come to others through an act of loving obedience and commitment. How many in Rome were blessed because she carried the letter to them? Of course, someone else could have taken it if she had refused. But she took it and became a means of blessing to others.

Who was Phoebe?

She was a Gentile (her name was connected to Greek mythology). She was wealthy – she is called a patron in verse 2, a term which indicates she was an owner of property. Phoebe may have been a businesswoman and took the letter with her because she was making a journey to Rome in connection with her business. She belonged to the church in Cenchreae, which was a port of the city of Corinth. There was probably more than one meeting place for the church in such a big city.

While we do not know how she came to be a believer, it is important to stress that she did. One day, she heard the gospel and became a believer in Jesus. She discovered that she was a sinner who was under the condemnation of God. But she also heard of the crucified Saviour who on the cross had taken the place of sinners. She would have heard this message gladly and embraced Jesus wholeheartedly.

Having come to trust in Jesus, she now linked herself to the others she knew who had done the same. We know that in the church in Corinth there were a wide variety of people, drawn from different social levels and backgrounds. Perhaps prior to her conversion she would never have interacted with those from a different level and background. But because of Jesus she was drawn to others who also loved to speak about Jesus. Like Ruth, another woman who came into God’s community, Phoebe found the church irresistible. She would have loved to hear what they thought of Jesus and to meet with them.

Yet it is helpful to ask, ‘What difference did it make to Phoebe to be a Christian?’ It almost seems as if Paul anticipated this question coming from the friends in Rome because in his description of Phoebe he provides four details that help us understand who a Christian is.

The first detail that he mentions is that she was a sister of both the Christians in Corinth and the Christians in Rome. He describes her as ‘our sister’. Here we are reminded that every Christian belongs to the family of God. In other words, Paul is stressing here the wonderful doctrine of adoption.

J. I. Packer observes in his book Knowing God that if we ‘want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father.’ Adoption is the highest spiritual privilege we can be given. It describes a wonderful relationship with God in which we will discover the fullness of the inheritance he wants us to enjoy. Adoption is not affected by our sinful past, our social status or our personal weaknesses. It is a status God has given to every believer and in each case it is irreversible. Phoebe is our sister forever.

The second detail that Paul mentions is that Phoebe is a servant of the church. This does not mean that she had an official position in the church that gave her some kind of authority. There may have been a position in which women were asked by the church to look after the temporal needs of others in the congregation (the word translated ‘servant’ is the word often used of a deacon). But to turn it into a position of authority is to miss out on the wonder of service. Why did she serve? The answer is that she was marked by Christlikeness. After all, did Jesus not say that he was among his disciples as one who served? Who did she serve? She served everyone in the congregation. There was no one she was not willing to serve. After all, if there was one member she would not want to serve, she could not be described as a servant of the church. When did she serve? Whenever she had the opportunity and she was prepared to make costly sacrifices of her time as seen in her willingness to take Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.

This description is a reminder that every congregation should be composed entirely of servants who serve everyone else in the ways in which God had gifted them. Obviously this is a challenging concept, but if each congregation was composed of members who imitated Jesus in his attitude, then there would be very few internal squabbles and fights.

So Paul reminded the Romans that Phoebe was a sister and a servant. The third detail that he gives about her is that she is a saint – he tells the Romans to ‘welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints’. A saint is someone who has been set apart to God, who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit as the mark of ownership. Clearly, the Spirit also applies to believers the benefits of adoption and servanthood. Yet in a special way he works in them as saints, to make them holy and less sinful. Phoebe may have been a terrible sinner before her conversion, but now she was a saint. The Spirit had set her apart and now he was working within her to change her and make her holy.

The fourth detail that Paul mentions about Phoebe is that she was a succourer of many, including himself. As Alexander Maclaren observed, ‘There is a whole world of unmentioned kindnesses and a life of self-devotion hidden away under these few words.’ This was an expression off brotherly love by her. Since she was probably a wealthy woman, able to look after herself financially, it is interesting that Paul expects the Roman Christians to meet her needs, which would come under the general term of hospitality. Grace removes selfishness from the hearts of God’s people.

Paul commended Phoebe and we can see why. She was a sinner, who after she was saved, became a sister, a servant, a saint and a succourer. But she was not anything but what every Christian should be.