Women in the Bible

Women in the New Testament - Junia 

This devotional is written by Morwenna Triggs. Morwenna has been at St Mary's for 7 years and can't wait to get back in the building and worship together!

Romans 16:7

7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Reflection

In this description we see she was well respected by Paul and for him to be mentioning her in this letter, she was known to the Roman church. Alongside Andronicus, a man's name who was possibly her husband or brother. This verse in The Message bible translates the last sentence as "Both of them are outstanding leaders." Paul is clear not one of them is above the other, they are equal people and Paul thinks of them as esteemed and wants to remind the Roman church of them. Perhaps even, to encourage the church to follow their lead.

Paul says that this pair are fellow Jews and believers before him. Junia was among the first christians, she had been with the people who knew Jesus first hand. From these encounters, she left behind her Jewish traditions, family and friends, the way of life she would have known, for the radical counterculture way of Jesus. She would have had to make huge sacrifices. With what we know about women's position in society, we can see she was doing some pretty big deal stuff for what she believed in. She walked in faith.

Her faith was unfailing; she suffered persecution and the hardships of jail, yet she knew what she believed in and didn't fall away. She persevered through tough times, she didn't let her circumstances hold her back. Junia was used by God and lived out the life she had been called into. This encourages us that even in the toughest of times, God is with us and will see us through. We just have to trust, to not give up, to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Lord we lift our eyes to you, help us to stay fixed on you and to walk in faith even when life gets tough. Thank you for the example of Junia, thank you that you pour out your sprint on us and that you have incredible plans for us.

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