October 8, 2023 - Romans 16

Phoebe, Prisca and Aquila, Epaenetus, Mary, Andronicus and Junia, Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, the family of Aristobulus, Herodion, the family of Narcissus, Tryphaena and Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus and his mother, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers who are with them, Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas. 29 individuals or family units (thus, more than 29 people) are named by Paul. And see how he thinks of these; he uses words like: fellow workers, my beloved, my kinsmen and fellow prisoners, my beloved, fellow worker, my beloved, my kinsman, the beloved.

In warfare, in the trenches, like birth brothers, soldiers will often develop a bond that means they trust their fellow soldiers and entrust each other with their very lives. A bond develops among them so that they actually refer to their fellow soldiers as brothers. In their 1985 song “Brothers in Arms,” Dire Straits sang:

Through these fields of destruction

Baptisms of fire

I’ve witnessed your suffering

As the battle raged higher

And though they did hurt me so bad

In the fear and alarm

You did not desert me

My brothers in arms.

Paul, even in his imprisonments, knew that he was not deserted by his friends and co-laborers, and he found great encouragement in naming so many. What great joy to have in our lives those brothers and sisters who will stay close no matter what.