Life with eternal meaning comes only through Jesus!

I was amazed by the insight that can be gained by studying a list of names in Romans 16:1-16. Paul gave personal greetings to church members in Rome. Some he had known personally as he evangelized Asia Minor. Others he had heard of from those who had shared with Paul their stories of faithfulness.

Many of the names were those of slaves laboring at the imperial court in Rome. As noted by William Barclay, The leaven of Christianity had reached the highest circles in the empire. Some were royalty who would pay a high price for placing trust in Christ alone. Paul gives a glimpse of this grouping in Philippians 4:2, All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

Consider Rufus who is quite possibly the son of Simon of Cyrene, the man who was forced to carry the cross of Christ to Calvary. It is thought that Rufus was the man Paul greeted in Romans 16, a leader of the church in Rome. William Barclay asks some stirring questions, It was men from Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch and first preached the gospel to the Gentile world (Acts 11:20). Was Simon one of the men from Cyrene? Was Rufus with him? Was it they who took the first tremendous step to make Christianity the faith of a whole world? Was it they who helped the Church break the bonds of Judaism? Can it be that, in some sense, we today owe the fact that we are Christians to the strange episode when a man from Cyrene was compelled to carry a cross on the road to Calvary?

It is believed that Nereus led Flavius Clemens, consul of Rome, and his wife Domatilla to the Lord while he served in their household. They were part of those who suffered for their faith under Nero when Christians were accused of setting the fire that devastated Rome in 64 A. D. The persecution is described by William Barclay, Nero ordered the Christians to be rolled in pitch and set alight to form living torches for his gardens, to be sewn into the skins of wild beasts and flung to savage hunting dogs, and to be shut up in ships which were sunk in the Tiber.

What could draw people away from family and friends to faraway places? What could lead people of wealth and power to submit to cruel persecution, even death? History can be as current as today. People are looking for deliverance from the ills of this world. Too many are looking in the wrong places or to the wrong person. Those in Romans 16 would declare that it was because of a commitment to one man, Jesus Christ. He alone had the power to make a difference in their lives and to make that same difference in anyone who calls on him by faith, today.

It has been said that committed Christians are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. Today, I fear that too many Christians are so earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. Only Jesus can and will meet our deepest needs. Check out the study of Romans 16:1-16 under the Books of the Bible tab and consider the roles the Roman Christians played in the greatest story ever told, the good news of Jesus Christ. Now is a good time to have your needs met in Jesus.