Romans 16:21-24 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
Here are some final greetings. These are people who are with Paul as the letter was written. This letter has no co-author at the beginning; it simply comes from Paul. Timothy was one of Paul’s closest co-workers and was with him in many places. Since this letter appears to have been written in Corinth, the church there had opportunity to get to know him. We find out in 1 Corinthians 4 and 16 that Paul had planned to send Timothy there to help settle disputes and remind them of Paul’s teachings. On several occasions, Paul sent Timothy on difficult assignments to help resolve conflict or to deal with false teachers. Probably no one knew Paul better than Timothy. Little is said about Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, just that they are Paul’s kinsmen, inferring that they are Jewish believers.
This letter was actually written down by Tertius. Often in the ancient world, people hired scribes to do the writing, while the author dictated. Scholars debate how much influence these scribes had in the wording. A letter like Romans likely took quite some time to write, since the argument and wording is so carefully done. The letter is very “Pauline” in the sense of theology and even much of the vocabulary, so I lean strongly towards Tertius simply being the scribe but the wording comes from Paul. Interestingly, Tertius was a believer and greets the Romans “in the Lord.” He was not a hired third party but was involved in the ministry. One of the greatest ministries he ever did was to write down this letter which has influenced countless millions of people over the centuries. We should never think that any of the small ministries we do are unimportant. Everything we do in the body of Christ can be influential and helpful, no matter how seemingly small it may be.
Paul was staying with Gaius who was hosting him and a house church. To do such a thing implies several things. One is that he was a believer. In 1 Conrithians 1:14, Paul mentions that he baptized only Crispus and Gaius in Corinth. It is likely that Gaius became a believer under Paul’s ministry. Second, he obviously was a patron to the church and used his home as a meeting place. There was some risk involved with this but also the joy of offering his resources to the church and to Paul. Third, he was a person of some means. To host a church required at least a courtyard or large room. Many homes of wealthy people had some type of courtyard or garden area in the middle of rooms along the edge of the home.
The next name listed in the letter is Erastus, the treasurer of the city of Corinth. A paving stone with the name Erastus has been discovered in ancient Corinth, possibly the same person. This shows that Christianity did not appeal only to the poor or enslaved but to the wealthy and powerful. Corinth was a mixed church, cross-cultural and with various economic stratification. When Paul wrote to the church in 1 Corinthians, he urged them to be united and to overcome their differences because they have Jesus Christ as their Lord and are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The final name listed in the letter is Quartus who is simply called a brother. I wish we knew more about all the names listed in this chapter. Each name represents a story and a life that was changed by the grace of God. Someday, in eternity, we can hear the stories of these early believers, what sacrifices they had to make for their faith in Jesus. They set for us good examples of faithfulness, even in a culture and time that were adverse to the gospel.
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