Phoebe Carries the Letter

A woman steps aboard a ship at a busy Greek harbour. Somewhere in her luggage, carefully wrapped, is a scroll. It will become one of the most important letters ever written. And she is about to carry it across the sea to Rome.

Paul is staying in Corinth, in southern Greece, as a guest of a man named Gaius. He has never been to Rome, but he longs to go, and on from there to Spain. So he has written to the believers in the capital, a long letter explaining the good news of Jesus from beginning to end. A helper called Tertius writes it down as Paul speaks. And at the very end, after all the deep teaching about sin and grace and faith and hope, Paul does something wonderfully human. He starts naming people. Not famous leaders only, but hosts and helpers, relatives and fellow prisoners, hard workers whose names would otherwise have been forgotten. Paul wanted every one of them remembered.

The first name is Phoebe. “I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea.” Cenchreae is a port just outside Corinth, and Phoebe serves the church there. Paul asks the Romans to welcome her in the Lord, as God's people should, and to help her with whatever she needs. Why? Because, he says, “she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.” A helper. A supporter. Someone who had stood behind many people, Paul included. Phoebe is travelling to Rome, and most people who study this letter believe she is the one who carries it there.

Then come the greetings. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers, who risked their own necks for my life. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles thank them. Greet the church that meets in their house. Greet Epaenetus, the first person in Asia to believe in Christ. Greet Mary, who worked so hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives, who were in prison with me, well known among the apostles, and in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, whom I love. And on he goes. Urbanus. Stachys. Apelles, tested and true. The households of Aristobulus and Narcissus. Herodion, another relative.

Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard in the Lord. Greet dear Persis, who has worked very hard. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas. Philologus and Julia. Nereus and his sister. Olympas. And all the believers with them. It is a long list, of men and women, slaves and free people, Jewish names and Greek and Latin ones. Every one of them mattered to Paul. Then he ends: “Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.”

Corinth sat on a narrow strip of land between two seas, and it had two harbours. Lechaeum faced west, towards Italy. Cenchreae faced east, onto the Saronic Gulf, towards Asia. The geographer Strabo describes both. Ships and goods passed through constantly, which made Corinth a perfect place to send a letter from. A few verses later, Paul even passes on greetings from Erastus, the city's treasurer.

Phoebe carries the letter. You'll find her, and all these friends, in Romans chapter sixteen, verses one to sixteen. A great letter about God's grace that ends with a great list of names, because the gospel is always about people. So here is a question to carry with you. If you wrote a list of people who have helped your faith, whose names would be on it?