Greet Rufus for me, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own; and also his dear mother who has been such a mother to me. Romans 16:13

 

If you’re in the middle of this job right now, you may find it thankless. We’re talking about mothering.

A respected preacher of the past had four sons who also grew up to be great preachers like their dad. The youngest son once asked, “Dad, who is the greatest preacher in the family?” The dad “looked hard at each son in turn and then, with a twinkle in his eye said, ‘Your Mother!'”[1]

Of course, both Moms and dads are important to children, but God gave a powerfully tender role of influence to position of mother. There’s an influential mom like this called out in the Bible, but we don’t know her name. The Apostle Paul loved her, it’s clear from the book of Romans, where Paul wrote: “Greet Rufus for me, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own; and also his dear mother who has been such a mother to me” (Romans 16:13) This mom raised Rufus and his brother, Alexander (Acts 19), to become leaders in the early Church.

Paul had suffered a lot of persecution and at one point, his friend Rufus had taken him home for some tender care from mom. Now some women in the Bible are mentioned as ministering with their husbands (Aquilla and Priscilla, Acts 18) or as business people (Lydia, seller of expensive cloth, Acts 16) but Rufus’s mom is simply known as “mom.” She likely did mom things: feeding Paul, tending to his physical needs, giving encouragement and healing when Paul really needed it.

Here’s the point to remember: Rufus, the Church leader and his mom got equal billing because she simply did what she was called to do: radiate the love of Jesus in humble and very important ways.

[1] Cole-Rous, Jim. “The Mother of RufusJim.” JourneyOnline, 14 Feb. 2022, journeyonline.org/lessons/the-mother-of-rufus/?series=8751.