Aemilia Metella Interviews Junia

August days in Rome are sweltering, and this day was no exception. Even at such an early hour, I pushed past residents and visitors to Rome, going about their business before the day became too hot. Already sweating, I arrived at Junia’s house and fanning myself with my hand, pulled the bell rope. Junia answered the door and led me through to the dining room. I often interview women whom I’ve never met, but Junia and her husband Andronicus are friends of my parents and I’ve known them since I was a child.

To quench my thirst I took a drink of sweet honey wine she placed before me. “Thank you Junia for agreeing to speak to me.”

She leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Not at all, Aemilia. I’m glad to do it. Your parents are very proud of you and what you have achieved with your interviews.”

I fanned myself with my wax tablet. “I would like to talk about your travels with Paul, but first, can you tell me how you met Jesus?”

“Oh yes, my favourite topic. It’s almost thirty years since the start of the church, and most of our members nowadays have never met him. As the years go by, there will be fewer of us until eventually no one will be left who walked and talked with him. Now we must pass on the important stories of what he said and did.”

“How did you first meet Jesus?”

“It was a hot summer’s day, rather like today, and Andronicus became ill with a summer fever, and I worried he would take a turn for the worse and die. Fortunately, we heard Jesus was in the next village and as I wondered how to get my husband there, a loud cheer erupted from the outskirts of the village. I ran out of the house and bumped into Jesus himself and was apologising when he said. ˋYou need me, don’t you? ˊ

“I can’t remember if I said anything or just grabbed his arm and dragged him into the room where Andronicus lay gasping on his bed. The next thing I knew, he stood up to hug Jesus. Jesus held our hands and said, ˋYou are an extraordinary family, who will do great things. Never forget what I’ve told you. ˊ From that day on, we followed Jesus throughout Judea and Galilee.”

Hearing stories of how people met Jesus is always special, and I had a stab of jealousy that I never met him in person. “Jesus sent you on a special mission. Can you tell me about that?”

“One day, Jesus called his disciples together and said he was sending us out to the towns and villages to tell others about him. He gave us specific instructions about what to take and what to say. Then, along with seventy others, we were on our own. Andronicus and I visited two small villages. Then returned to Jesus happy, and told him everything that had happened. It was good training, and we learned so much in such a short time that we have put into practice since.

“We were not in Jerusalem the day they killed Jesus and thought the dreams and the hopes we placed in him were over. When news reached us that some disciples had seen Jesus alive again, we rushed to Jerusalem. My good friend, Mary Magdalene, was telling us about meeting him by the tomb where they laid his body when he appeared in the room. No bright lights or loud noises, he just said hello. That was too much for me, and I rushed over to him.

“Not wanting to miss anything, we stayed in Jerusalem, and one morning saw him leave for the last time. He told us to spread his message out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. If that was not startling enough, at Passover we had another surprise when God filled us with his Holy Spirit, enabling us to do just that.

“How did you meet Paul?” I asked.

“Paul’s reputation preceded him, and he was a very zealous opponent, and wanting to prevent all knowledge of Jesus from spreading, tried to stop us by imprisoning many of us. He had some of us flogged and even had Stephen killed. Andronicus and I escaped to our village, but when we heard he was after us, we moved far away to Tarsus, where I had a cousin. Then strange reports emerged he had met with Jesus and turned his life around.

“I knew he had family in Tarsus and was dreading him turning up, and one day he did. We came face to face with him outside the synagogue. He recognised us and apologised for what had happened in Jerusalem and invited himself to dinner.” Junia’s laugh was loud. “If you’ve met Paul, then that’s just like him. We didn’t know that day that God would use him so powerfully to tell the world about Jesus our Saviour and that we would become friends and colleagues. We worked and travelled with him over many years, ministering together all over the empire.”

“Tell me about the time you ended up in prison.”

Junia closed her eyes and breathed out. I sensed her tension and said, “If you prefer, you don’t need to say anything.”

She opened her eyes and with a wry smile said, “It was a terrible time, and I would rather not remember it, but I think I should say something. They tried to shield me, but I was arrested alongside Andronicus and Paul for causing a riot, but it wasn’t our fault. Guards beat us with rods, and I had my nose broken.”

“Did being a woman not stop them from doing that?”

“No, the guards seemed to take more pleasure in it. That was not the worst, but I’d rather not go into details.”

“Thank you Junia for your honesty. Paul has referred to you and Andronicus as apostles. What do you think about that?”

She smiled; this was on safer ground. “For both of us to be included as apostles is an honour we don’t deserve. Jesus told us we would do great things, and it is that we have tried to live up to, and only with his help. We have been in Rome for several years now, working with the church here. We simply do what Jesus told us to do, and if Paul and others call us apostles, then that is fine with us, but we do not seek titles.”

Photo by Marisa Howenstine on Unsplash

We must pass on the important stories

You need me, don’t you?

Photo by Bernd Dittrich on Unslpash

We worked and travelled with Paul over many years, ministering together all over the empire.

Photo by Tim Hufner on Unsplash

We simply do what Jesus told us to do, and if Paul and others call us apostles, then that is fine with us, but we do not seek titles.

Naples National Archaeological Museum, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons