Romans 16:16

Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

This is a beautiful passage and most interesting on account of the light which it throws upon the intimacy of love which united the early Christians. Incidentally, the interest which Paul showed in the individual Christians, and the manner in which he brings out their special merits, is very characteristic. His first salutation, or greeting, goes to Priscilla, or Prisca, and her husband Aquila, the wife being named first as being the more gifted and energetic. These two were old friends of the apostle and earnest workers for the kingdom of Christ. Paul had lodged with them at Corinth, Acts 18:2, and they had worked with him not only at the same trade, that of tent-makers, but also in the same cause, that of Christ. They had accompanied him to Ephesus, Acts 18:18, and there also had been his co-laborers for the Kingdom. And now, as at Ephesus, they had gathered a house-congregation at Rome: true missionaries always. Paul gives them the testimony that in the interest of his life they had risked their own necks, probably at the time of the Ephesian tumult, Acts 19:1, for which reason not only he owed them sincere thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles, since through their efforts the life of Paul had been preserved for further labors in the vineyard of the Lord. Such self-devotion and self-sacrifice in the interest of the Gospel and its extension may well serve as an example to this day. Paul includes in his greetings also the congregation which was accustomed to assemble at their house. See 1 Corinthians 16:19.

Of the persons mentioned in the other greetings of Paul we have no other information. Of Epaenetus it is said that he was the first-fruits of Asia (not Achaia) for Christ; he was the first man out of the Roman province of Asia to be won for Christ. Of Mary, a Jewess according to her name, the apostle states that she at some time had rendered him assiduous service. According to some readings, her toil was in the interests of the believers at Rome. Andronicus and Junias are mentioned as related to Paul and as at one time his fellow-prisoners. See 2 Corinthians 11:23. These two men were of note, distinguished, highly respected among the apostles in the wider sense of the term, or by the apostles in the narrower sense of the word. They had also been in Christ before Paul, had been converted in the early days of the Church, before the Lord Himself had called Paul as the instrument of His grace. Amplias is characterized by Paul as his beloved in the Lord and Stachys as his beloved; but of Urban he says that he is his helper in the Lord, that he was active in the service of Christ, and of Apelles, that he was an approved, a tried Christian, that he had given evidence of the faith living in him. Paul included in his salutation also those Christians that belonged to the household of one Aristobulus and of one Narcissus, slaves that belonged to their estates. Such lowly brethren were just as near and dear to the great apostle as the most influential members of the congregation. Herodion is mentioned as Paul's relative. Tryphena, Tryphosa, and particularly Persis are included in the list as women that worked for the Lord, whose love found a way to spread the Gospel by individual service. Rufus is distinguished as the chosen in the Lord, one of those that are precious in the sight of God and distinguished in His service before men. The special designation is all the more apt since Rufus was probably the son of the Simon that bore the cross of Christ, Mark 15:21. The mother of Rufus had shown the apostle much motherly love and care, probably at the time when he was in Jerusalem, and he therefore honors her with the title "mother. " The men and women named in vv. 14 and 15 were such as were known to Paul, with whom he had become acquainted, of whom he had heard, but with whom he had not entered into such intimate relations as with the rest, mentioned above, Note how the titles "beloved" and "well beloved" bring out the depth of Christian sympathy and love which was characteristic of the first period of Christianity. In sending greetings to all the house-congregations, the apostle has remembered all the members of the Roman church. And he now admonishes them to give evidence of the communion of love in which they stood by saluting one another with the holy kiss. This was not an indiscriminate token of natural affection, but a custom which continued for a long time in the first congregations, after prayer and before the celebration of the Holy Communion, the men saluting the men and the women the women, thus expressing their mutual affection and equality before God. The apostle finally sends greetings from all the congregations. His plan of visiting Rome at the first opportunity was well known, and therefore the Christians in all the cities that he visited commissioned him to remember them to the brethren at Rome.