Z 27 WOMEN OF THE BIBLE: Phoebe

Read Romans 16:1 & 2

The Apostle Paul completed his letter to the Ecclesia in Rome, who were mostly Jews, by recommending Phoebe. She was the first person mentioned. Why was Paul ‘commending’ her?
‘Commend’ means that he was saying good things about her behaviour and her actions. He was also wanting other ecclesias to accept her when she visited them.
What was Phoebe doing? Paul said she was:

a servant,
A sister
she had business with other ecclesias,
she was helping and assisting Paul and others. What did this mean?

Paul hadn’t yet been to Rome so one would wonder if he had ever met Phoebe. But if he had, how had he met her?
Paul had written a letter to the Corinthians and he had been there. Possibly he met her there.
Phoebe didn’t live in the city of Rome but lived at Cenchrea, a seaport city near Corinth. Seaport cities had much trade. They also had very transient people, sailors passing through. This made for lawlessness and ungodly behaviour.
It would seem that she was a capable business woman, having been successful enough that she could financially and physically support those in need.
There were poor ‘saints’ who had money given to them from other ecclesias and from back in Jerusalem. Since Phoebe was successful in business, could she have been trusted with taking and fairly distributing money to those in need?
This would mean that she had travelled to various ecclesias. This meant that she had the ability, the health and the support to travel to other ecclesias, possibly carrying money that robbers would have liked to have. Did that mean she had support people or possibly servants? Quite likely.
Phoebe was recommended as a ‘sister’. This would mean she was strong in her faith, encouraging others to live faithfully and spreading the knowledge of Christ and his work wherever she went. As a sister, she didn’t speak in an ecclesial worship meeting as a brother would. Women can very strongly support The Faith by talking about it with others, by living the principles that Christ taught without having to be a speaker in front of Ecclesia.
How had she helped Paul? (Philippians 4:3) Had she been instrumental in bringing the parchments to him as he requested when he was in prison? At that time, Paul would have been writing his letters on parchment.(the only kind of paper available at that time) ( 2 Timothy 4:13) Obviously he was busy doing ecclesial work while in prison. This is a lesson in dedication for ourselves. Work for the Lord, regardless of our circumstances.
Servant also means ‘deaconess’. This doesn’t mean that she was in a position of high authority as there is no place in Christ’s ecclesias for exalted people. There is a place for people of duty and this is what she was doing. As a person having a ‘servant’ attitude she would be:

helping others learn about the Gospel, teaching, supporting, helping them understand the new teachings.
She would be visiting the sick, those in prison, the lonely, the weak in faith, the busy mothers, the lonely widows, the frail elderly.
Another meaning of ‘deacon’ is ‘to run errands’. This was another duty she performed
A deacon is one who executes the commands of another, as an attendant. Who commanded her? Her Lord would be Christ, the instructions would come from Him through Paul.
Another meaning of Deacon is a waiter. This is one who serves food and drink. While the Gospel was being spread, there would be travel of those teaching, those like Timothy and many others. Phoebe would be someone who had the financial, physical ability to fill that need, quite possibly providing hospitality and housing to those travelling and teaching.

We have made some assumptions in the Lesson, however, in other letters Paul writes we get a glimpse into the lives of these individuals who gave their time and energy to serving God by teaching His Gospel and assisting members in the ecclesias as they grew and matured.
Let us seek to be a Phoebe, to help our ecclesias, our fellow members in whatever way is their need that we can satisfy.