Homily 31 — Romans 16, verses 5 to 16

“Greet my beloved Epenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia for Christ.” [a]

I think that many, even among those who seem to be very good men, hurry past this part of the letter as unnecessary and of no great weight. And I think the same thing happens to them with the genealogy in the Gospel: because it is a list of names, they think they cannot get any great good out of it. Yet goldsmiths take care even over the smallest scraps of gold, while these people pass over such great ingots of it. So that this may not happen to them, what I have already said should be enough to rouse them from their listlessness. For we showed from what was said on a former occasion, when we lifted up your souls by means of these greetings, that the gain even from this part is nothing to be despised. So today too we will try to mine in this same place. For even from bare names it is possible to find a great treasure.

If, for instance, you were shown why Abraham was given that name, why Sarah, why Israel, why Samuel, you would find a great many real subjects for study in this alone. And from times too, and from places, you can gather the same benefit. For the good man grows rich even from these, while the lazy man gains nothing even from the plainest things. So the very name of Adam teaches us no small wisdom, and so do the names of his son and of his wife, and of most of the others. For names serve to remind us of a good many things. They show at once God’s kindnesses and the thankfulness of women; for when the women conceived by God’s gift, it was they who gave the children these names.

But why are we now spending such careful thought on names, while matters so important are neglected, and many do not even know the names of the sacred books? Even so, we ought not to draw back from paying attention to things of this sort. For “you ought,” he says, “to have put my money with the bankers” (Matthew 25, verse 27). And so, even if there is no one who listens, let us do our part, and show that there is nothing unnecessary in the Scriptures, nothing added at random. For if these names had no use, they would not have been added to the letter, and Paul would not have written what he has written.

But there are some so low-minded, so empty, so unworthy of heaven, that they think not only names but whole books of the Bible are of no use, such as Leviticus, Joshua, and more besides. And in this way many of the simpler sort have gone so far as to reject the Old Testament, and, pressing on along the road this evil habit of mind leads to, have cut away many parts of the New Testament as well. But of these men, drunk as they are and living for the flesh, we take little account. If anyone, though, is a lover of wisdom and a friend of spiritual feasts, let him be told that even the things in Scripture that seem unimportant are not put there at random or to no purpose, and that even the old laws have much to profit us. For it says, “All these things are types, and are written for our instruction” (First Corinthians 10, verse 11). That is why he says to Timothy too, “Give attention to reading, to exhortation” (First Timothy 4, verse 13), urging him to read the old books — and this though Timothy was a man with so great a spirit in him that he could drive out demons and raise the dead.

Let us now keep on with the subject in hand. “Greet my beloved Epenetus.” It is worth learning from this how he gives each one a different kind of praise.

This praise is no slight one; it is very great, and a proof of great excellence in the man, that Paul should hold him beloved — Paul, who had no idea of loving out of favoritism rather than by sober judgment. Then comes another word of praise: “who is the firstfruits of Achaia.” What he means is either that Epenetus leaped forward ahead of everyone else and became a believer — and that would be no slight praise — or that he showed more godliness than anyone else. And that is why, after saying, “who is the firstfruits of Achaia,” he does not stop there; so that you would not suspect it to be a glory of this world, he added, “for Christ.” Now if in the affairs of the city the one who comes first is thought great and honorable, much more so in these matters.

Since, then, these people were likely of humble birth, he speaks of the true noble birth and the true first place, and gives him his honors from this. And he says that he “is the firstfruits” not of Corinth only but of the whole nation, since he had become, as it were, a door and an entrance for the rest.

And for such people the reward is no small one. Such a person will reap a great reward from the achievements of others too, since by making the beginning he contributed much toward them. [g]

Verse 6: “Greet Mary, who toiled hard for us.”

What is this? Once more a woman is honored and proclaimed a victor! Once more we men are put to shame. Or rather, we are not only put to shame; we also have an honor conferred on us. We have an honor in that there are such women among us, but we are put to shame in that we men are left so far behind them. But if we come to know where their adornment comes from, we too will quickly overtake them. Where, then, does their adornment come from? Let men and women both listen. It is not from bracelets or necklaces, nor from their eunuchs and maidservants and gold-embroidered dresses, but from their toils on behalf of the truth. For he says, “who toiled hard for us” — that is, not for herself only, nor for her own advancement (many women of the present day do that, by fasting and sleeping on the floor), but for others too, running the race that apostles and evangelists ran.

In what sense, then, does he say, “I do not permit a woman to teach” (First Timothy 2, verse 12)? He means to keep her from coming forward in public (First Corinthians 14, verse 35) and from the seat on the platform, not from the word of teaching. For if that were what he meant, how could he have said to the woman who had an unbelieving husband, “How do you know, woman, whether you will save your husband?” (First Corinthians 7, verse 16). Or how is it that he lets her admonish her children, when he says, “She will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control” (First Timothy 2, verse 15)? How did Priscilla come to instruct even Apollos? So when he said this, he was not cutting off private conversation that does good. He meant the teaching given before everyone, which it was the teacher’s duty to give in the public assembly — or again, the case where the husband is a believer, fully equipped and able to instruct her himself. When she is the wiser, he does not forbid her to teach him and make him better.

And he does not say, “who taught much,” but “who toiled hard,” because along with teaching she carried out other services besides: facing dangers, giving money, making journeys. For the women of those days were more spirited than lions, sharing with the apostles their toils for the sake of the good news. In this way they went traveling with them and carried out every other service as well. Even in Christ’s own day women followed him, “who provided for him out of their own means” (Luke 8, verse 3), and waited on the Teacher.

Verse 7: “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives.” [j]

This too looks like praise, and what follows is much more so. What is it? “And my fellow prisoners.” This is the greatest honor, a noble proclamation. And where had Paul been a prisoner, that he should call them “my fellow prisoners”? A prisoner, indeed, he had not been, but he had suffered things worse than prisoners suffer. He was a stranger not only to his country and his family; he wrestled with famine and constant death and thousands of other things. For a prisoner’s only misfortune is this: he is separated from his relatives, and often has to be a slave instead of free. But in Paul’s case one may speak of trials as thick as snowflakes, which this blessed man underwent as he was dragged and hauled about, flogged, chained, stoned, shipwrecked, with countless people plotting against him. And captives, once they are led away, have no further enemy; they are even treated with great care by those who took them. But this man was always in the midst of enemies, and saw spears on every side, and sharpened swords, and battle lines, and battles. Since, then, it is likely that these two shared many dangers with him, he calls them fellow captives, as he says in another passage too, “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner” (Colossians 4, verse 10).

Then comes yet another praise: “who are outstanding among the apostles.” To be apostles at all is a great thing; but to be outstanding even among these — just think what great praise that is! And they were outstanding because of their works, because of their achievements. Oh, how great is this woman’s philosophy, that she should be counted worthy even of the title of apostle! But even here he does not stop; he adds another praise besides, and says, “who were also in Christ before me.”

This too is very great praise, that they sprang forward and came before others. But let me draw your attention to that holy soul, and see how free it is of empty glory. After a glory such as his, in kind and in degree, he puts others ahead of himself. He does not hide from us that he came after them, and he is not ashamed to admit it. And why are you surprised that he is not ashamed of this, when he does not shrink even from displaying his former life before everyone, calling himself “a blasphemer and a persecutor” (First Timothy 1, verse 13)? Since, then, he could not rank them above others on this score, he looked to himself, who had come in after others, and from this he found a way to give them praise, by saying, “who were in Christ before me.” [l]

Verse 8: “Greet Ampliatus, my beloved.”

Here again he praises the man through his love. For Paul’s love was love for God’s sake, and it carried countless blessings with it. If being loved by the king is a great thing, how great a praise must it be to be loved by Paul! For if the man had not acquired great virtue, would he have drawn Paul’s love to himself? As for those who live in vice and wrongdoing, Paul is in the habit not only of refusing to love them, but even of declaring them accursed. So he says, “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed” (First Corinthians 16, verse 22); and, “If anyone preaches to you any other good news than the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1, verse 8).

Verse 9: “Greet Urbanus, my helper in the Lord.” [m]

This is greater praise than the last, for it includes it.

“And Stachys, my beloved.” This again is an honor of the same kind.

Verse 10: “Greet Apelles, approved in Christ.”

There is no praise like this: to be blameless, and to give no one a handle against you in the things of God. For when he says, “approved in Christ,” he includes the whole list of virtues. And why does he nowhere say “my lord so-and-so,” or “my master such-and-such”? Because these words of praise were greater than those. Those are mere titles of rank, but these belong to virtue. Nor did he pay them this honor at random, as though greeting several of lesser virtue along with those of high and great character. So far as the greeting goes — greeting one along with another, and in the same letter — he honors them all alike. But by stating each one’s praises separately, he sets before us the virtue that belongs to each. In this way he neither gives birth to envy by honoring one and slighting another, nor produces listlessness and confusion in them by giving them all the same rank when they did not deserve the same.

See now how he comes back again to the admirable women. First he says, “Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.” Then, Verse 11: “Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those who belong to the household of Narcissus.” These, it is likely, were not as worthy as those mentioned before, and that is why he does not even name them all. And after giving them the praise that suited them, that of being faithful — this is the meaning of “who are in the Lord” — he returns to the women again, and says, Verse 12: “Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who toil in the Lord.”

Of the woman before, he says that she “toiled hard for you,” but of these, that they are still toiling. And this is no small praise: that they should be at work all the time, and not only work, but even toil. But Persis he also calls beloved, to show that she is greater than these. For he says, “Greet my beloved Persis.” And he bears witness to her great toils as well, saying, “who toiled hard in the Lord.”

So well does he know how to name each one according to what each deserves. He makes these women more eager by not robbing them of anything that was their due, but commending even the slightest distinction; and he makes the others more virtuous, spurring them on to the same zeal by his praise of these.

Verse 13: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.” [n]

Here again the blessing is unmixed: the son and the mother are both of such a character, the house is full of blessing, and the root matches the fruit. For he would not simply have said “his mother and mine” unless he were bearing witness to the woman’s great virtue.

Verse 14: “Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brothers and sisters who are with them.”

Do not dwell here on the fact that he lists them without a word of praise; see rather how he did not count them unworthy of his greeting, though they were, as it seems, far below all the rest. Or rather, even this is no slight praise, that he calls them brothers and sisters, just as he calls those who come after them saints. For he says, Verse 15: “Greet Philologus and Julius, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.” That was the greatest dignity, a height of honor beyond words.

Then, so that no jealousy would arise from his greeting one in one way and another in another — some by name and some without distinction, some with more points of praise and some with fewer — he mixes them all together again in the equality of love and in the holy kiss, saying, Verse 16: “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

By this greeting he means to drive out of them every quarrel that was unsettling them and every ground for petty pride, so that the great would not look down on the small, nor the small envy the greater, but haughtiness and envy would be driven further away, as this kiss soothed and leveled everyone. [o]

That is why he not only tells them to greet one another in this way, but in the same way sends them the greeting of the churches as well. For he says, “The churches of Christ greet you” — not this person or that one individually, but all of you together.

You see that the gains we earn from these greetings are no small ones, and what treasures we would have hurried past if we had not examined this part of the letter carefully too — as carefully, I mean, as was in our power. So if there is someone wise and spiritual, he will dive even deeper and find a greater number of pearls.

But some have often asked why it was that in this letter he greeted so many people, which he has not done in any other letter. We might say that he does it because he had not yet seen the Romans. And yet someone may say: “Well, he had not seen the Colossians either, and yet he did nothing of the kind.” But these people were more distinguished than others, and had moved to Rome from other cities, as to a safer city and the royal one. Since, then, they were living in a foreign country and needed a great deal of protection, and some of them were his acquaintances, while some there had also done him many important services, he rightly commends them by letter. For Paul’s glory at that time was not small. It was so great that those who had the good fortune to be named in a letter of his gained much protection from the very fact that he wrote to them. For people not only revered him; they were even afraid of him. If this had not been so, he would not have said, “She has been a helper of many, and of myself as well” (verse 2). And again, “I could wish that I myself were accursed” (Romans 9, verse 3). And to Philemon he wrote, “as Paul the aged, and a prisoner of Jesus Christ” (Philemon, verse 9).

And to the Galatians: “Look, I, Paul, say to you” (Galatians 5, verse 2); and, “You received me even as Jesus Christ” (Galatians 4, verse 14). And writing to the Corinthians he said, “Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you” (First Corinthians 4, verse 18); and again, “I have applied these things to myself and to Apollos as an illustration, so that you may learn through us not to think of people above what is written” (First Corinthians 4, verse 6). From all these passages it is clear that everyone had a high opinion of him. So, wanting them to feel secure and to be held in honor, he greeted each of them, setting out their praise to the best advantage he could. [p]

One he calls beloved, another relative, another both; another fellow prisoner, another fellow worker, another approved, another chosen. And of the women, one he greets by her title — for he does not call her a servant of the church in a vague sense (if that were so, he would have given Tryphena and Persis this name too), but as one who held the office of deaconess — another as helper and assistant, another as mother, another for the toils she underwent. Some he greets by the household they belonged to, some by the name of brothers and sisters, some by the title of saints. Some he honors by the mere fact of greeting them, some by greeting them by name, some by calling them firstfruits, some by their being earlier in time; but more than all the rest, Priscilla and Aquila.

For even if all were believers, still they were not all alike; they differed in their merits. So, to rouse them all to strive harder to match one another, he keeps no one’s praises hidden. For when those who toil more do not also receive the greater reward, many grow more listless. That is why even in the kingdom the honors are not equal. Among the disciples, too, not all were alike: the three stood out above the rest, and among these three again there was a great difference. For this is a very exact method, which God keeps to the very last. That is why it says, “One star differs from another star in glory” (First Corinthians 15, verse 41). And yet they were all apostles, and all are to sit on twelve thrones, and all left their possessions, and all kept company with him; still, it was the three he took. And again, to these very three he said that it was possible for some to rank even above them: “For to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, except to those for whom it is prepared” (Mark 10, verse 40).

And he sets Peter above the others when he says, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21, verse 15). And John too was loved more than the rest. For there will be a strict examination of everyone, and if you are only a little better than your neighbor — even by a speck, or by anything however small — God will not overlook even this. And one could see this coming out even from ancient times. Lot was a righteous man, but not as Abraham was; Hezekiah too, but not as David was; and all the prophets, but not as John was. [r]

Where, then, are those who, with all this great exactness in view, will still not admit that there is a hell? For if all the righteous are not to have the same lot — if they surpass others even a little (“for one star,” it says, “differs from another star in glory,” First Corinthians 15, verse 41) — how are sinners to share the same lot as the righteous? Not even a man would make such a confusion as that, much less God!

But if you like, I will show you from things that have actually happened that even among sinners there is this distinction, and this exact justice. Consider: Adam sinned, and Eve sinned; both broke the command, yet they were not equally sinful, and so they were not equally punished either. The difference was so great that Paul said, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression.” And yet the deceit was one and the same. Still, God’s searching examination brought out a difference so great that Paul could make this statement.

Again, Cain was punished, but Lamech, who committed a murder after him, did not suffer nearly so great a punishment. And yet this was a murder and that was a murder — and Lamech’s was all the worse, because he had not been made better even by the example before him. But since Lamech did not kill his brother after being warned, did not need an accuser, and did not shrink from answering when God questioned him, but with no one accusing him pleaded against himself and condemned himself more severely, he obtained pardon. The other, having done the opposite, was punished.

See how exactly God sifts the facts. That is why he punished those in the flood in one way and those in Sodom in another, and the Israelites too — both those in Babylon and those in the time of Antiochus — in different ways, showing that he keeps a strict account of what we do. Some were slaves for seventy years, others for four hundred; others again ate their own children and went through countless other, more grievous disasters. And not even so were they set free — neither they nor those who were burned alive in Sodom. “For it will be more tolerable,” he says, “for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city” (Matthew 10, verse 15).

If he had no care for us, either when we sin or when we do right, there might perhaps be some reason in saying that there is no punishment. But since he is so exceedingly urgent that we should not sin, and uses so many means to keep us in the right, it is very plain that he punishes the wicked and also crowns those who do right. [u]

But I beg you to consider how unfair most people are. They find fault with God because in his patience he so often overlooks so many who are ungodly, impure or violent, and they suffer no punishment now. Yet if he threatens to punish them in the other world, they are fierce and relentless in their accusations. And yet if the one is painful to them, they ought to accept and admire the other. But what folly! What an unreasoning, donkey-like spirit! What a sin-loving soul, gazing after vice! For it is from this that all these opinions are born. And so, if those who say these things would make up their minds to take hold of virtue, they would soon find themselves fully persuaded about hell too, and would not doubt.

“And where is this hell?” someone asks. “In what place?” Some storytellers say that it is in the valley of Jehoshaphat, twisting what was said about a certain war long past to apply to hell. But Scripture does not say this. In what place, then, will it be? Somewhere, as I at least think, quite outside this world. For as the prisons and the mines are a great distance from the royal palaces, so hell will be somewhere outside this world. Let us not, then, try to find out where it is, but how we may escape it. And do not disbelieve in what is to come just because God does not punish everyone here.

For he is merciful and patient; that is why he threatens, and does not throw us into it at once. For “I do not desire,” he says, “the death of a sinner” (Ezekiel 18, verse 32). But if there is no death of a sinner, the words are idle. [v]

I know, of course, that nothing is less pleasant to you than these words. But to me nothing is more pleasant. I wish it were possible at our lunch and our dinner and our baths, and everywhere, to be talking about hell. For then we would not feel the pain of the evils in this world, nor the pleasure of its good things. What would you call an evil? Poverty? Disease? Captivity? Maiming of the body? Why, all these things are child’s play compared with the punishment there. Even if you speak of those who are tormented with famine all their lives, or of those who are maimed from their earliest days and go begging — even this is luxury compared with those other evils. So let us keep talking about these things continually. For remembering hell keeps us from falling into hell.

Do you not hear Paul saying, “who will suffer everlasting punishment from the face of the Lord” (Second Thessalonians 1, verse 9)? Do you not hear what Nero was like, whom Paul even calls the mystery of the Antichrist? For “the mystery of lawlessness,” he says, “is already at work” (Second Thessalonians 2, verse 7).

What then? Is Nero to suffer nothing? Is the Antichrist to suffer nothing? Or the devil nothing? Then the Antichrist will always be the Antichrist, and the devil always the devil. For they will not leave off from mischief unless they are punished. [w]

“Yes, but everyone sees that there is a hell. It is only the unbelievers who are to fall into it.” Why so, pray? “Because believers acknowledge their Master.” And what has that to do with it? When their life is impure, they will be punished more severely than the unbelievers on that very ground. “For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law” (Romans 2, verse 12). And, “The servant who knew his master’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many blows” (Luke 12, verse 47).

But if there is no such thing as giving an account of one’s life, and all this is said loosely, then the devil will not be punished either. For he too knows God, and far better than people do; and all the demons know him, and tremble, and acknowledge that he is their Judge. If, then, there is no account to be given of our life, or of evil deeds, they too will get clean away. These things are not so; surely they are not! Do not deceive yourselves, beloved.

For if there is no hell, how are the apostles to judge the twelve tribes of Israel? How is it that Paul says, “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (First Corinthians 6, verse 3). How is it that Christ said, “The men of Nineveh will rise up and condemn this generation” (Matthew 12, verse 41); and, “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment” (Matthew 11, verse 24)? Why, then, make a joke of things that are no joking matter? Why deceive yourself and cheat your own reason? Why fight against God’s love for humankind? For it was out of this love that he prepared hell and threatened us with it, so that we would become better through this fear and not be thrown into it. And so the one who does away with talk about these things does nothing else than push us into it and drive us there by this deception. So do not weaken the hands of those who toil for virtue, and do not make the listlessness of those who are asleep any greater. For if most people are persuaded that there is no hell, when will they leave off vice?

Or when will justice be seen — I do not say between sinners and righteous men, but between sinners and sinners? For why is it that one is punished here and another is not, though he commits the same sins, or even far worse ones? If there is no hell, you will have nothing to say in defense of this to those who raise it as an objection. So my advice is that we stop this trifling and shut the mouths of those who argue against us on these subjects. [x]

For there will be an exact search into the smallest things, both sins and good deeds. We will be punished for unchaste looks, and for idle words, and for mere insulting words, and we will give an account for drunkenness, just as we will receive a reward even for a cup of cold water, and for a single sigh (Ecclesiastes 12, verse 14). For it says, “Set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry” (Ezekiel 9, verse 4). How, then, do you dare to say that he who will search into our doings with such great exactness threatened hell with bare words, and lightly? Do not, I beg you, do not destroy yourself with these empty hopes, and those who are persuaded by you! If you do not believe our words, ask Jews and pagans and all the heretics, and all of them, as with one mouth, will answer that there will be a judgment and a recompense. Are people not enough? Ask the demons themselves, and you will hear them cry out, “Why have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8, verse 29).

So put all this together and persuade your soul not to trifle idly, so that you do not come to know by experience that there is a hell, but are sobered by these things instead, and so are able to escape those tortures and attain the good things to come. May we all share in them, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.