Christian Nobodies Who Were Somebodies

June 25th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Romans 16:5b-10a Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. 10 Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ.

Paul greets eight specific people in vv. 5b-10. First, greetings went to Epenetus, “beloved” by Paul and special to him. Either he was Paul’s first convert in Asia (Turkey), or he was simply the “first convert to Christ from Asia” prior to Paul’s own conversion. “First convert” is literally “firstfruit” in Greek (cf. 15:16), indicative of the great Gentile soul harvest that followed.

Secondly, Paul mentions Mary, a Semitic name in v. 6. She “worked hard” for the church in Rome. This phrase carries the idea of strenuous labor—all that is known of this particular Mary.

Thirdly and fourthly, greetings went to Andronicus and Junias (Latin and Greek respectively). First, Paul calls them “kinsmen” which either means they were fellow Jews or perhaps even his blood relatives. Having been “fellow prisoners” with Paul, this means that Paul was imprisoned at another time prior to his imprisonment in Rome which had not yet occurred when he wrote this (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23). Perhaps they shared a cell together and strengthened one another. Also, they were “outstanding among the apostles.” Here “apostles” (lit. sent ones) does not refer to the office of such but of being sent. It is therefore likely that this pair was well-known among all sent Christians for their outstanding service to Christ’s commission, although nothing is known about them from the NT other than this statement. Simply stated, they were unheralded heroes. Having been “in Christ before [Paul],” perhaps they suffered under his former persecution?

Fifthly, Paul mentions Ampliatus, a common Latin name among slaves who were not allowed to bear the names of free men. Paul, however, referred to him as “beloved.” In one of the earliest Christian graves near Rome, the name Ampliatus can still be seen on one of the tombs. Its elaborate decoration points to Ampliatus being highly esteemed in the church. Some have even proposed that he was among the believers in “Caesar’s household” mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4:22. Truly, in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek… slave nor free man… male nor female” (Gal. 3:28). All are one by faith in Christ in spite of their differing earthly roles.

The next greetings were for Urbanus, Stachys, and Apelles. Urbanus, who was likely a Roman citizen, is a Latin name meaning “elegant.” Paul only calls him a “fellow worker in Christ.” Stachys is simply called “beloved” by Paul. Apelles is called “approved in Christ”—“approved” meaning tried and tested like gold and silver passing precious metal tests for purity. All three of these were men were obviously faithful Christians whom Paul knew, loved, and trusted. Notably, their names have been handed down for centuries in spite of their anonymity.

Food For Thought
First-century Christianity was confined to a small area on the globe in and around the Roman empire, and there were, comparatively speaking, far fewer believers then than today. Many of these Christians stood out from the others, and they have been remembered for eternity in the NT. But if you think about it, Christianity today, though it has spread worldwide, is still relatively small, and although so many faithful Christians have been forgotten forever, many who do seemingly so little, are remembered and revered for their deeds. This is not our goal of course, but may we strive as Christians to be people who have an everlasting effect on others—people who live not for our own glory but for the glory of God. God always remembers them!