BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Paul’s long theological treatise ends with … a long list of names?

At first glance, Paul’s greeting to specific people he loved, but whom we don’t know, seems somewhat irrelevant. But pay attention to the details for helpful historical context—key background information for understanding the New Testament letters, as you’ll learn in the video.

In Romans 16:1-2, Paul writes a classic courier’s greeting to introduce Phoebe from Cenchreae. First-century couriers did not simply deliver envelopes. Nobody had phones to call the original sender with questions, so the courier communicated and taught the sender’s message, also answering questions about its meaning. Of all the Jesus followers Paul knew from the Corinth-Cenchreae area, he chose this woman to courier his letter to Rome, his most formidable theological teaching in the New Testament.

Then, Paul greets other Jewish, Latin, and Greek ministry workers in Rome, painting a picture of a diverse community. Some were heads of households and relatively wealthy, some born into slavery, some men, others women, all together devoting their lives to Jesus.

The final chapter of Romans also delivers Paul’s final warning: Keep an eye on those who stir up division, for God is a God of peace. Above all, he wants this church to find unity in the midst of their considerable diversity.

Paul closes with rapturous praise of God—the God of the Hebrew Bible who has revealed the good news about Jesus the Messiah to Jewish and gentile people alike, so that all people may respond in obedient faith.

Reflection Questions

• Reflect on the historical context of Paul’s letter to Rome, including social hierarchies that called some valuable and others disposable, the Roman empire’s brutal power always looming large, and Jewish followers of Jesus returning to Rome to find a church that no longer followed Jewish customs. How have these historical factors shaped your understanding of Paul’s teaching in this letter?
• Review the story of Paul’s partnership with Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18. What might be the significance of their return to Rome?