R-e-s-p-e-c-t - Junia

Romans 16:7

Paul called her “highly respected among the apostles,” but Junia hasn’t gotten much respect from translators. To be fair, the Greek name used in Romans 16:7 could be either masculine or feminine, and thus many scholars assume that Paul was praising “Junias,” a man. Yet the name is found hundreds of times in other Greek literature, and is always feminine.

The next complication concerns the phrase “among the apostles.” Linguistically, this could mean merely that the apostles knew Junia and respected her. An alternate reading would include Junia (and Andronicus, probably her husband) as “apostles” themselves. This would reflect Paul’s larger sense of the term apostle—not just the original twelve disciples or a small group of leaders, but everyone who carries the gospel to new places.

As Jews who became Christians before Paul did, this couple might have been in Jerusalem at Pentecost, when the church was born. Perhaps they were among the three thousand new believers that day. Then maybe they carried that message back home and started a church. Was that “home church” in Rome, or did they plant churches in different cities (as Paul did)? All we know is that they had been in prison with Paul at one point, possibly in Ephesus, and that they were ministering in Rome when Paul wrote his epistle.

So how important was Junia? In the modern debate about women in church leadership, she could be hailed as a female apostle or dismissed as only one of numerous women working faithfully for the church. But let’s be careful about dismissing. Whether she herself was considered an apostle or not, she was still “highly respected” for the work she did.

Any debate about Christian leadership must be shaped by the upside-down nature of our faith. The humble are exalted. We follow a Master who washed feet. We lead by serving. So we could guess that Junia was not trying to win respect. She was just serving the Lord, going where he called, sharing his truth—even if that meant being thrown into prison. Christian leadership is not about fame or acclaim or titles. Humble service is what earns the lasting respect of all those who follow Christ—not just in the first century, but now as well.

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.

Romans 16:7