Read with Me
Philemon 8-21 (HCSB)
For this reason, although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right, I appeal to you, instead, on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an elderly man and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus, appeal to you for my son, Onesimus. I fathered him while I was in chains. Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me. I am sending him back to you as a part of myself. I wanted to keep him with me, so that in my imprisonment for the gospel he might serve me in your place. But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will. For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a brief time, so that you might get him back permanently, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave—as a dearly loved brother. He is especially so to me, but even more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me a partner, accept him as you would me. And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self. Yes, brother, may I have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
Listen with Me
These paragraphs are all connected as a single request that Paul is making to Philemon. And the situation is very easy to decode, even though Paul doesn’t ever come out and say it directly.
Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, had run away. At some point, he had met Paul who helped him to find salvation through faith in Jesus and had then taken him under his wing to mentor him and to help him to grow.
As Onesimus grew in his faith and matured in his understanding, it became clear to him that he had to make something right. By running away, he had stolen from Philemon his value as a slave. As counter intuitive as it might seem to many, he decided he needed to return to his servitude to Philemon, to make amends, and to take any punishment that he deserved.
It must be remembered that at that time the penalties for fleeing slavery in the Roman Empire were severe. Severe beatings were common, and a runaway slave could even be killed. The government saw this as just punishment for the offense, as well as a way of preventing the anarchy that would arise throughout the empire if all the slaves decided to rebel.
Paul did not believe that slaves should run away or defraud their owners. He encouraged any who could legally obtain their freedom to do so (1 Corinthians 7:21), but always using legal and ethical means. The only problem he had with Onesimus’s decision to return to his master was a potential punishment that was awaiting him there. So, he wrote this letter to Philemon, known to be a strong Christian, to try to assuage his anger, and to help Onesimus avoid the harsh penalties he had earned by his rebellion and escape.
Paul admits that, as an elder in the Church, he could order Philemon to receive Onesimus back without punishing him. But he realized that that would be far less effective in the long run than helping Philemon to see and understand why that course of action was better. Paul brings up several arguments:
- Paul had grown very fond of Onesimus as he had worked with him to bring him to Jesus and to help him to grow. He even says that Onesimus had become like a son to him. Thus, he had special interest in pleading this case.
- Onesimus (whose name means “useful” in Greek), though he had been useless to Philemon, was now a fellow Christian and would thus be more useful to him.
- Paul wasn’t commanding Philemon to receive a runaway slave back without penalty. Instead, he was requesting that he receive a repentant fellow Christian back, and to extend to him the same grace and mercy that Philemon himself had received from God.
- Paul asked Philemon to charge whatever penalty he felt was due Onesimus to his own account, and promised that he himself would stand in the gap and pay back whatever was owed.
Pray with Me
Father, this is a powerful and persuasive letter. It points out two things to my mind. First, that becoming a Christian doesn’t simply erase our past. Even though we receive a fresh start and a clean slate through the blood of Jesus, there may still be penalties that must be paid and restitution that must be made to mend bridges with people we have wronged. But it also points out very strongly that when someone comes to you through faith in Jesus, they really are a new creation. And if we are Christians, we need to receive them as such, and show mercy and grace regarding sins they might have committed against us. Thank you, Lord, for helping me see this so clearly. Amen.