In Romans 16:1-16 the apostle Paul sends greetings to a number of his friends, co-workers, and acquaintances in Rome, a city which he had not yet visited. The list is extensive – almost thirty individuals are mentioned as well as several groups of people – and nowhere else in Paul’s letters do we find such a long catalog of names. As we read Romans today it is very easy to skim-read this list, noting the few names we may recognize and then moving on to the epistle’s conclusion. But there is more to the list than immediately meets the eye, and like everything in Paul’s writings, we can learn from it.
First, of course, we see in this long list of individuals the degree to which Paul was truly a “people person” – knowing, remembering and greeting a large number of people in a city he did not even know. Because of his constant travel and evangelization Paul must have met a great number of people, and it is impressive that he remembered not only the names of the people on his list, but also their qualities.
Looking at what Paul says about these people is also instructive. Phoebe, who is mentioned first in Romans 16:1-2, was probably the person who delivered Paul’s letter to Rome and the apostle’s greetings only begin after she is mentioned. Paul then specifically greets some twenty-eight individuals. Rather than just being an extensive list of greetings with an occasional comment thrown in here and there, however, if we look closely, we see a clear pattern. Paul refers to the people he lists in seven different ways:
1. Those Paul calls “beloved.” Paul was well aware that God referred to his own son as “beloved” (Colossians 1:13) and doubtless did not use the expression lightly. He mentions only three people this way.
2. Those Paul says “worked hard” or “worked very hard” doing God’s work – only three individuals.
3. Individuals mentioned as simply being “fellow workers” – three people.
4. People who are named as being fellow Christians – “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” or a similar expression – five individuals.
5. Those who had personally helped Paul in some way – “been a mother to me,” “risked their lives for me” – three individuals.
6. Individuals who Paul simply notes as being fellow Jews – two individuals who are also mentioned as being in Christ and one individual who is only noted as a fellow Jew.
7. Those who are simply named, or mentioned as being in someone’s family – more than ten individuals. Although they were doubtless Christians, they are included in the list without any qualifying remarks to show that they had any outstanding characteristics.
What is interesting about Paul’s listing of these individuals is the fact that the majority of the people he greets are simply Christians – individuals Paul doubtless loved and cared for, but did not remember as being outstanding in their service of God or others. Those in group 4, who are specifically mentioned as being “in Christ,” seem to have perhaps been more devout – but overall, well over half of the people Paul greets are not given any special commendation.
When we then subtract the individuals who are mentioned as having helped Paul personally and those whom he calls “beloved” (but who we are not told why they are so regarded), the remaining people in Paul’s list are the ones he shows were most actively involved in doing the work of God. These remaining six individuals are said to be “fellow workers,” “those who work hard,” and “those who work very hard.”
We cannot know whether Paul was subconsciously or consciously “grading” these people as he greeted them, but it is clear that they were a minority among the larger group of Christians Paul greeted in his epistle, and that there was a difference in Paul’s mind between the individuals he mentions. It is also hard to imagine Paul – who wrote so carefully and deeply – as not including the public grading of individuals without having a purpose in doing so. Perhaps that purpose was for the good of those whom he greeted, but perhaps it was for our good, also. We can all ask ourselves which group Paul would have included us in.
As Christians we know that the greatest responsibility and opportunity we have in the lives we are given is to love God and our fellow human beings (Matthew 22:37-39). But none of us is perfect in this regard; so how do we grow in love for God and others?
The apostle John gives us an answer to this important question. In his letters, John talks extensively about love, mentioning the concept no fewer than 34 times, including his well-known summary statements such as “…God is love” (1 John 4:8). But John’s teaching on love is not as general as it might sometimes appear.
In his first epistle, the apostle talks about an easily overlooked aspect of the two directions or dimensions of love – love of God and love of people – that must both be present in our lives. In doing so, John answers the question of “How do we increase our love for God and man?” by answering a slightly different one: “How do we know if we love God and others?” He gives us the answer first in terms of whether we truly love God or not. Notice what he tells us:
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:20-21).
The proof of our love for God, John says, is that we love others. In the next chapter of his letter, John repeats this fact: “… everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him” (1 John 5:1). But the apostle then reverses the direction of this understanding:
“This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God” (1 John 5:23).
The proof of our love for others, John tells us here, is that we love God. Just as it is not possible to truly love God without loving his children (1 John 5:1), it is also impossible to truly love God’s children without loving him (1 John 5:2). Together, these verses show the two directions that love must work in. In the first case, our love toward God involves – and is proved by – our love of our brothers and sisters. In the second case, we are told that our love for our brothers and sisters is based on – and proved by – our love and obedience to God.
Simple as it may sound, this two-way definition can be tremendously helpful to us as Christians. We can see what John says as both admonition and encouragement. First, there is clear admonition for all of us in the understanding that we cannot claim to love God if we cannot bring ourselves to love all people, and conversely, that we cannot pretend we truly love people if we do not deeply love God. Love of one without love of the other is not genuine love.
But the encouraging side of this equation relates to our original question – “How can we grow in love of God and others?” What John shows us indicates we can increase our love of God by loving people more, and if we want to increase our love of others, we can do that through actively developing our love of God. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is a truth that solidly underlies much of what John tells us.
Why is this? The reason is that unless God is the center of our life – what we love above all else – we will never truly love others as much as ourselves, because without God at the center of our lives, we will love ourselves above all else – we will primarily be “lovers of ourselves” (2 Timothy 3:2). Conversely, if we do not love others as much as ourselves, we are not fulfilling God’s command and our love of him will always be limited.
What John shows us is that as we grow in our love for God, our love for others will naturally increase at the same time. The closer we grow to God, the more he changes the way we think about ourselves – and others – and the more we begin to love others. As we grow to love the children of God more, it is a direct reaction that we begin to be less self-centered and our love for God naturally increases as a result.
John’s words on the two directions of love may indeed seem counterintuitive at first, yet they are profoundly true in showing us how we can know and grow our love for God and others.
The Bible’s book of Proverbs is often said to represent a collection of “human wisdom” and is frequently regarded as a book of practical rather than spiritual insights expressed in short, catchy sayings. Yet this viewpoint vastly underestimates the book.
The value of Proverbs can be seen in the degree to which Jesus and the apostles quote and echo this remarkable book – some thirty-five times. Jesus not only quoted the book directly, but it appears to have connections to even some of his most profound teaching.
At times Jesus built his teaching directly around Proverbs – as we find in Luke 14:7–11 where, at the dinner in the Pharisee’s house, he reminded those present of Proverbs 25:6–7 which shows it is better to take the lower places of honor, and then to be invited to the head of the table. We even find important examples of Jesus’ use of Proverbs in one of the most spiritual of his teachings – the Sermon on the Mount.
The Proverbs on the Mount
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus quotes from or alludes to Proverbs numerous times. For example, we can see the reflection of the proverb “… those who seek me find me” (Proverbs 8:17) in his words “seek and you will find” and “…the one who seeks finds” (Matthew 7:7–8). But the connections are more than incidental. When we look at many of the Beatitudes themselves, we find a remarkable inverse similarity to what Proverbs 6 tells us about the seven things God hates:
What God Hates – Proverbs 6:16-19
The Beatitudes – Matthew 5:3-12
A proud look
The meek
A lying tongue
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Hands that shed innocent blood
Those who mourn
A heart that devises wicked schemes
The pure in heart
Feet that are quick to rush into evil
The poor in spirit
A false witness
The merciful
A person who stirs up conflict
The peacemakers
This comparison does not include the final, eighth, beatitude “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness …” (vs. 10) because only the first seven beatitudes, like the seven evils mentioned in Proverbs 6, are actual characteristics of the person. And although the Beatitudes cover many of the same ideas found in Proverbs 6:16-19 in a positive manner, we should remember that it was often typical of Jesus’ teaching to recast “negatively” worded concepts in a positive manner (Matthew 22:35–40, etc.). We should also not forget that Jesus compared himself to Solomon and stressed that his own God-given wisdom was greater than that of the ancient king (Matthew 12:42).
Wisdom certainly figures frequently in Jesus’ mountainside sermon, and he ends it by telling his hearers that: “… everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man …” (Matthew 7:24). In the minds of Jesus’ listeners, such a “wise man” would have been no different from the individual held up as an example of right and godly living throughout the book of Proverbs.
This comparison is not to lower the Sermon on the Mount to the level of “human wisdom” or to elevate Proverbs to the level of Jesus’ highest teaching. It simply stresses that Proverbs contains ideas that were clearly part of the scriptural background and thinking of Jesus – ideas that are certainly worthy of our attention and that are often deeper than we may realize.
* For much more information on the book of Proverbs, download our free e-book – Spotlight on the Proverbs – here.
Luke’s Gospel indicates that the evangelist may have particularly appreciated good food – at least it shows clearly that he noticed and commented on food more than any other Gospel writer! But Luke does not simply mention food and meals – he draws lessons from them.
As a frame of reference, we should notice that Luke’s account of the life of Jesus really does have a noticeable focus on food. For example, while Matthew uses the word “eat” 18 times, and John only 15 times, Luke uses the word 33 times. Mark also uses this word quite frequently (25 times), but overall Luke uses a number of eating and food-related words twice as many times as Mark and the other Gospels, so his emphasis on this is clear. Within his Gospel, Luke also – uniquely – describes ten meals in which Jesus participated, and we will look at them all briefly.
Luke’s Gospel indicates that the evangelist may have particularly appreciated good food – at least it shows clearly that he noticed and commented on food more than any other Gospel writer! But Luke does not simply mention food and meals – he draws lessons from them. As a frame of reference, we should notice that Luke’s account of the life of Jesus has a noticeable focus on food. For example, while Matthew uses the word “eat” 18 times, and John only 15 times, Luke uses the word 33 times. Mark also uses this word quite frequently (25 times), but overall Luke uses a number of eating and food-related words twice as many times as Mark and the other Gospels, so his emphasis on this is clear. Within his Gospel, Luke also – uniquely – describes ten meals in which Jesus participated, and we will look at them all briefly.
1) Dining with the Despised. Luke 5:27-32 tells the story of how Jesus accepted an invitation to “a great banquet” at the home of Levi (Matthew) – one of the hated tax collectors employed by the Romans. We are told that “a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them” and that the Pharisees and religious teachers who saw this complained “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” The first meal Luke describes immediately teaches us that eating with others is an important form of showing true acceptance. It’s a lesson we can all learn from. Is there someone we could eat with as a way to show our acceptance and love for them?
2) The Horrible Host. Luke 7:36-50 records how Jesus went to eat at the home of a certain Simon, one of the Pharisees who invited him but did not provide him with any of the normal forms of welcome and comfort. Dinners such as this were often eaten partially outdoors in the cool of the day, which meant that the woman who came to anoint Jesus with costly perfume would have been able to see and go to him. But the woman crossed an invisible social barrier in doing this and in her subsequent actions, and when the self-righteous Pharisee became indignant Jesus gently corrected him while showing support for the woman. Sadly, in many families, more arguments occur during meals than at any other time and Jesus’ actions teach a valuable lesson in the effective de-escalation of interpersonal tensions at such times. We can learn a lesson from this regarding keeping our meals and interactions positive.
3) Catering for a Crowd. Luke 9:10-17 tells how a large crowd of people followed Jesus to hear his teaching, and the disciples then urged him to send them away so that they could find food and lodging. Jesus felt empathy for the tired and hungry crowds, however, and performed the miracle of feeding the crowd of five thousand with only two fish and five loaves of bread. The story contains a symbolic lesson in that the twelve baskets of “crumbs” the disciples gathered up after the meal (vs. 17) doubtless represented the twelve tribes of Israel for which Jesus was providing spiritual food. But at the practical level, the story teaches us the need for an observant and thoughtful attitude that looks for and sees the needs of others, and that we should never hesitate to help those in real need because we do not have much ourselves.
4) The Hassled Hostess. Luke 10:38-42 describes a dinner Jesus attended at the home of his friends Mary and Martha. When Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha complained that she could not complete all the preparations by herself. Jesus, of course, gently rebuked Martha by telling her that sometimes listening is more important than eating, and pointed out that she was “worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed” (vss. 41-42). Meals can be an important part of our relationships with others, but they shouldn’t become an end in themselves. Less food may be better if it means more time together.
5) Consider Cleanliness. Luke 11:37-53 is a somewhat different meal story. When a Pharisee invited Jesus to eat with him, we are told “the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal” (vs. 38). We do not know exactly what the Pharisee said, but Jesus’ response was withering: “you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness” (vs. 39). Jesus then continued by detailing some of the Pharisees’ problems and showing them their hypocrisy. The dinner seems to have ended at this point, but Jesus doubtless knew this meal was doomed from the start (vs. 53). Of course, the lesson from this meal can be applied in our own lives if we are more concerned with details of physical cleanliness than with cleanliness of thought, speech, and attitude.
6) Principles with our Provisions. Luke 14:1-24 tells how “One Sabbath …Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee.” Jesus used this dinner as a teaching opportunity and told three parables, each with its own lesson – the lawfulness of healing on the Sabbath day, the principle of humility in not taking the place of honor at banquets, and the principle of inviting “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” to our feasts (vs. 13). The second two principles are certainly ones that we can apply in our own lives when we are invited to a meal or offer one to others. And if we think about them, of course, these principles can be applied in many other areas of life as well as meals.
7) A Salvation Stopover. Luke 19:1-10 gives the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector at Jericho who wanted to see Jesus and hear his words. While Jesus had doubtless been offered dinner at a number of “respectable” homes, he had evidently declined as he was only planning to pass through Jericho (vs. 1). But seeing Zacchaeus’s receptiveness, Jesus invited himself to the man’s home (vs. 5), ate there, and brought the word of salvation to him (vs. 9). Sometimes we need to be willing to stop doing even the most important work or be willing to change our plans in order to fit in a meal or other activity that can make a difference in someone’s life – as Jesus certainly did with Zacchaeus (vs. 8).
8) Making the Meal Matter. Luke 22:14-38 is the account of the most memorable meal in the Gospels – that of the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples. Although the meal symbolized and was spiritually all about Jesus and his coming sacrifice, Jesus explained this, but focused nonetheless on guiding and serving his friends (compare John13:3; etc.). Today, most of our big celebrations – birthday, anniversary, graduation, and other dinners – are about us, and it is natural to tend to focus on ourselves at such times. The Last Supper teaches the opposite of this and has many lessons we can learn in this regard.
9) A Supper Surprise. Luke 24:28-35 describes a post-resurrection event when the risen Jesus – unknown to them – joined two of his followers as they walked to the village of Emmaus outside of Jerusalem. Jesus talked with the followers and explained the Scriptures to them, but they still did not realize who he was until they stopped to eat supper together. As soon as Jesus gave thanks for the food and broke the bread, as he had done at the Last Supper, the two disciples’ eyes were opened, and they recognized him (vs. 31). The lesson here is simple but important – the story prompts us to ask ourselves if people would recognize us as Christians if we were to eat with them, and if so, how?
10) Proof in the Presence. Luke 24:36-43 is the final meal Luke records in his Gospel, occurring when Jesus appeared to the main group of his disciples after his resurrection. It was at this meeting that he allowed them to see and touch his wounds to prove that it was indeed him. But, in a fascinating turn of the story, as though it was unplanned, we read “And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence” (vss. 41-42). In taking a physical meal with his disciples, Jesus showed it was he – the one who had eaten so many meals with them in friendship and mutual acceptance. When we do meals right, we follow his example.
*This post is abstracted from our free E-Book, Lessons From Luke: Understanding More of the Message of the Third Gospel By R. Herbert. Download a free copy here.
Anyone who has read more than a few chapters of the Bible soon comes to realize that the Scriptures contain some things that are meant to be understood figuratively or symbolically rather than literally – as when Jesus said that he was a door (John 10:9). But sometimes it is not quite so easy to tell if the intended meaning of a word or passage is literal or figurative – how are we to know in such cases?
It is always an error to think that everything the Bible says is meant literally – or that it is all meant figuratively. The best underlying principle of interpretation is to take every word or passage in its normal literal sense unless we have an indication not to do so. Here are six simple rules to follow in applying this principle:
1. Genre: Words should be interpreted literally unless the literary type of the text suggests otherwise. When David wrote that “The Lord God is a sun and shield” (Psalm 84:11) or that the sun was like: “a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy” (Psalm 19:4-5) he was clearly speaking poetically and we interpret the words not literally but for the concepts they suggest. Prophecy must also often be interpreted symbolically as in the vision recorded in Daniel 5, where we find “a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes” who “came from the west” (Daniel 8:5), which clearly equates with ancient Macedonian Greece (vs. 21) and its king, Alexander the Great.
2. Context: Words or passages should be interpreted literally unless the immediate or wider context suggests otherwise. When Jesus spoke in parables he described himself in symbolic form, as a Cornerstone, a Door, a Vine, Bread, Light, and Water. The immediate context clearly shows these were parables, and we do not interpret them literally. In the same way, when we consider everything the Bible says, that larger context shows us, for example, that we should not think he meant it literally when Jesus said that we should “cut off our hand” if it offends us (Matthew 5:29–30).
3. Expression: The biblical writers used expressions and figures of speech in their ancient languages just as we do today. We may sometimes need the help of Bible translators to explain those expressions – as when Genesis 30:2 tells us “his nose burned,” meaning the man was angry. But often biblical expressions are similar or identical to ones we might use today – as when Revelation 7:1 speaks of “the four corners of the earth” and it would be foolish to think this was meant literally.
4. Impossibility: Words or passages should be interpreted literally unless such a meaning would imply an impossibility. For example, in the Old Testament we read “The cities are great, and walled up to heaven” (Deuteronomy 1:28), and in the New Testament “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). In such cases what is said would obviously be literally impossible and must be figurative.
5. Absurdity: Words or passages must be interpreted literally unless the result would imply an absurdity. When Jesus said “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up,” (John 11:11) this would not be an impossible situation, but it would be absurd to think Lazarus – who had been buried for days – was simply asleep.
6. Contradiction: Words or passages must be interpreted literally unless the sense would lead to a contradiction. This is often seen when someone says something sarcastically, while actually meaning the opposite – as when Job told his friends “Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you!” (Job 12:2).
Fortunately, the Bible often interprets its own symbols and figurative speech – just as in the book of Revelation we are told seven stars are symbols of seven angels (1:20), seven lamp stands represent seven churches (1:20), and bowls of incense represent the prayers of the saints (5:8). But when the Bible does not directly interpret its own language, we can most often figure out whether the intended meaning is a literal or figurative one by following the six simple rules given above.
*For more information on this and other aspects of effective Bible study, download our free e-book: Understanding the Bible: Three Steps to Enrich and Deepen Your Knowledge of the Scriptures, here.
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