“The Return of the Colossian Prodigal”
Philemon 12-25
Study 2 in Philemon Series
INTRODUCTION:
As I explained in the introduction to our previous study, this short letter to Philemon is the only truly personal letter by Paul that God has chosen to preserve in the Canon of Scripture. He almost certainly wrote many others, because from what we can gather in the NT, he was a prolific writer. However, the Epistle to Philemon stands out as one-of-a-kind, in several ways. Here we get a glimpse of one of Paul’s personal friendships, one that meant a great deal to him. We also can see his wisdom at work as he mediates between two men he loved very much.
TRANSITION:
Verses 10-11:
10 I appeal to you for my
child, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my
imprisonment, 11 who formerly was useless
to you, but now is useful both to you
and to me.
· We do not know the backstory of how
Onesimus came to faith in Christ, but it is obvious from verse 10 that Paul was
instrumental in that process. Where did they meet? We don’t know. Did Onesimus
remember Paul from Colossae and set out to look him up? We don’t know. This is
just another of the many questions we must wait to ask until we get to Heaven.
· We also talked in our last study about the meaning of Onesimus’ name and the way Paul used that as a play on words. Onesimus in Greek literally means “profitable” or “useful”. Once Onesimus was useless, but according to Paul he is useful now (v. 11). Since meeting Jesus, he is not only Onesimus by name, but he is also Onesimus by nature, having been transformed by God’s grace through faith in Christ.
NOTES on the Text:
Verses 12-14:
12 I have sent him back to
you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to
keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment
for the Gospel; 14 but without your consent
I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect,
by compulsion but of your own free will.
· “I have sent him back to
you in person, that is, sending my very heart,” – When he ran away and escaped from
his master Onesimus had done something both illegal and unethical,
and it was now time to make things right, so Paul sent him back to Philemon to
face the music, as they say. But there are pieces of this story that are
missing. Something must have happened. Once he knew Onesimus’ story it became obvious
to Paul that he could not go on harboring a runaway slave, but something must
have brought the problem to a head. Perhaps it was the coming of Epaphras, who
was also from Colossae, and almost certainly knew Philemon. It is possible that
Epaphras recognized Onesimus as a slave in Philemon’s household. That might be
what caused the whole story to come out. Or possibly, with the arrival of
Epaphras, the conscience of Onesimus moved him to make a full confession of his
hidden past.
· However, Paul also wanted Philemon to
deal mercifully with Onesimus. Under Roman law the slave owner had complete and
total control over his slave and both Paul and Onesimus must have been worried
that Philemon might allow his anger and sense of aggrievement to determine
Onesimus’ punishment.
· In Paul’s time the Roman Empire had a
total population of approximately 60 million, and slaves made up 20-30% of the
population. That works out to +/- 15-20 million slaves in total. In Italy
slaves comprised approximately 1/4 of the population. In the rest of the
Empire, they accounted for about 1/5 of the population. In Rome itself it is
estimated that of the population of 1 million approximately 350,000 were
slaves. Because of the huge number of slaves in the Roman Empire, the Romans
lived in constant fear of a slave revolt. Therefore, they imposed ruthless
punishments on rebellious or runaway slaves hoping to control them through
fear. A captured runaway slave could be beaten even to death, crucified, or at
the very least, cruelly branded with a red-hot iron on the forehead with the
letter “F” for fugitivus, runaway.
· “…that is,
sending my very heart” – Onesimus had become very dear to Paul, like
one of his “sons”. In fact, Paul refers to him as “my
child…whom I have begotten” meaning that he viewed himself to be the
man’s spiritual parent or at least the midwife that brought him into this new
life. Moreover, Paul says that sending Onesimus back to Philemon felt like he was
ripping out his own heart and sending it to Philemon by FedEx.
· “…whom I wished to keep
with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for
the Gospel;” – Paul sent Onesimus back to
Colossae but in the hope that Philemon would allow him to return again to Paul
in Rome. Paul recognized that his selfish motives for keeping Onesimus with him
did not trump Philemon’s rights as his owner and master. Paul makes it clear
that his personal choice was for Onesimus to stay with him, because he had
become a helper to him. He made his appeal using three arguments:
1.
First,
Onesimus was useful to him. Paul was getting old, and he probably needed extra
help.
2.
Second,
Onesimus being there with him was sort of like having his friend, Philemon,
with him because Onesimus was, in a sense, an extension of Philemon.
3.
Thirdly,
because Paul was imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel, this was a way that
Philemon could be a real partner in the furtherance of Paul’s Gospel ministry.
· “…but without your consent
I did not want to do anything” – Paul
recognized that he had no legal authority in this matter. His only leverage was
his friendship with Philemon and his influence as an apostle. Paul made his
appeal and made it strong and skillfully. At the same time, he left the
decision to Philemon. He would appeal in love, but he would not infringe on Philemon’s
rights.
· “…so that your goodness
would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. – Paul wanted Philemon to do the right
thing for the right reasons. To force someone to do the right thing against
their will is not a victory for anyone. If Paul demanded it, then
Philemon’s good deed would be out of compulsion, and voluntary. This would make
the whole business unpleasant and would rob Philemon of any spiritual reward.
· So, Paul tossed the ball into
Philemon’s court. He gave Philemon the freedom to do what was right out of love
for the Lord and for Paul, not to mention out of Christian compassion for a man
who was once an enemy but who now has become a brother in Christ, albeit still
his slave.
· By the way, in trying to put all the pieces together, it seems that Paul gave this letter to Onesimus to hand-carry back to Colossae to serve as an introduction and explanation to Philemon of what had transpired after he ran away. However, Onesimus did not travel alone. According to Colossians 4:7-9 he traveled with Tychicus. “As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bondservant in the Lord, will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.” Tychicus was the bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians and Onesimus accompanied him.
Verses 15-16:
15 For perhaps
he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have
him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a
beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh
and in the Lord.
· “For perhaps
he was for this reason separated from you for a while…” – God’s ways are high above our ways,
and He often works out His sovereign plans in ways that leave us marveling and
guessing. Paul explains the providential hand of God at work in Onesimus’
escape. This whole story is too amazing just to be “luck”. And besides, there
really is no such thing as luck.
· “…separated from you for a
while” – It was true that Onesimus
had runaway and separated himself from Philemon, but now Paul was sending him
back. I think Paul here tries to defuse the situation by using a euphemism: “…separated
from you for a while” sounds better than “escaped runaway slave.” Paul
argues that perhaps Philemon lost him for a time in order to have him forever
(v. 15). He says that Philemon must take him back now, not as a slave, but as a
Christian brother (v. 16). Because Onesimus is now Paul's son in the faith,
Philemon must receive him as he would receive Paul himself.
William Barclay, in his Daily Study
Bible Commentary Series, gives us some interesting insights into the issue
of slavery in Paul’s day:
Many people have wondered why Paul says nothing in this
letter about the whole matter of slavery. He does not condemn it; he does not
even tell Philemon to set Onesimus free; it is still as a slave that he would
have him taken back. There are those who have criticized Paul for not seizing
the opportunity to condemn the slavery on which the ancient world was built.
Lightfoot says, "The word emancipation seems to tremble on his lips, but
he never utters it." But there are reasons for his silence.
Slavery was an integral part of the ancient world; the
whole of society was built on it. Aristotle held that it was in the nature of
things that certain men should be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water,
to serve the higher classes of men. It may well be that Paul accepted the
institution of slavery because it was almost impossible to imagine society
without it. Further, if Christianity had, in fact, given the slaves any
encouragement to revolt or to leave their masters, nothing but tragedy could have
followed. Any such revolt would have been savagely crushed; any slave who took
his freedom would have been mercilessly punished; and Christianity would itself
have been branded as revolutionary and subversionary. Given the Christian
faith, emancipation was bound to come--but the time was not ripe; and to have
encouraged slaves to hope for it, and to seize it, would have done infinitely
more harm than good. There are some things which cannot be suddenly achieved,
and for which the world must wait, until the leaven works.
What Christianity did was to introduce a new
relationship between man and man, in which all external differences were
abolished. Christians are one body whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men
(1 Corinthians 12:13). In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free
man, male nor female (Galatians 3:28). In Christ there is neither Greek nor
Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free man
(Colossians 3:11). It was as a slave that Onesimus ran away, and it was as a
slave that he was coming back, but now he was not only a slave, he was a
beloved brother in the Lord. When a relationship like that enters into life,
social grades and castes cease to matter. The very names, master and slave,
become irrelevant. If the master treats the slave as Christ would have treated
him, and if the slave serves the master as he would serve Christ, then it does
not matter if you call the one master and the other slave; their relationship
does not depend on any human classification, for they are both in Christ.
Christianity in the early days did not attack slavery; to have done so would have been disastrous. But it introduced a new relationship in which the human grades of society ceased to matter. It is to be noted that this new relationship never gave the slave the right to take advantage of it; it made him rather a better slave and a more efficient servant, for now he must do things in such a way that he could offer them to Christ. Nor did it mean that the master must be soft and easy-going, willing to accept bad workmanship and inferior service; but it did mean that he no longer treated any servant as a thing, but as a person and a brother in Christ.
Verse 17:
17 If then you regard me a
partner, accept him as you would me.
· “If then you regard me as a
partner…” – We can almost imagine Paul
standing beside Onesimus, pleading with Philemon, asking for his mercy for the
runaway: “Philemon, if you consider me as your partner in the Gospel, then please
treat Onesimus like you would treat me.”
· “…accept him as you would
me.” – Paul’s appeal is powerful
because he stands beside the guilty slave and says, “I know this man is a
criminal and he deserves punishment. However, he has become my friend and my
brother in Christ, so, if you punish him, then you are punishing me as well.”
· In this letter Paul is serving as an advocate for Onesimus before Philemon. And isn’t it interesting, this is exactly what Jesus does for us before our master, God the Father.
Verses 18-20:
18 But if he has wronged you
in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my
account; 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will
repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).
20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in
the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
· “But if he has wronged you in
any way or owes you anything…” – Apparently
when Onesimus escaped he also stole from Philemon. This theft, under
Roman law was a capital crime, punishable by death.
· “…charge that to my account”
– Paul asked that the value of
what had been stolen be “charged” to Paul’s account. “Put it on my tab,
Philemon.”
· “I, Paul, am writing this with
my own hand. I will repay it” – Paul
was so serious that he gave Philemon a personal IOU, written by his own hand,
which was a legally binding document. This is so interesting. When Paul told Philemon
to “charge Onesimus’ debt to my account,” he was doing for Onesimus exactly what
Jesus Christ did for us when He took our sins upon Himself and counted His
righteousness to our account.
· “…(not to mention to you
that you owe to me even your own self as well)” – What does Paul mean by this? He includes
it almost as an aside. Basically, Paul is saying, “Oh, and by the way, while
you’re adding up Onesimus’ tab, you might take just a moment to add up your own
tab that you owe to me.” Is Paul being snarky and petty? I don’t think so. Here
again we are missing some details of this story, but from Paul’s comment I
conclude that Paul must have been the one that led Philemon to saving faith in
Christ, establishing a form of debt on Philemon’s part. This story contains
some amazing irony. Onesimus ran away to Rome, thinking he would never get caught
and be held accountable for his wrongdoing, only to cross paths with the very
man who had led his master, Philemon, to saving faith. What were the chances?
· “Yes, brother, let me benefit
from you in the Lord” – “…let me benefit from you” Paul
here once again is doing some word play. This word “benefit” translates the Greek
verb onínemi, (ὀνίνημι), which means “to be useful, to profit,
or to help” and is the root word for the name “Onesimus.” So, here Paul uses
another play on words with the name Onesimus to communicate a not-so-subtle
request: “Let me have Onesimus back from you in the Lord.”
· “…refresh my heart in Christ.” – Earlier in the letter, Paul praised Philemon saying that he was a man who “refreshed the heart of the saints” (v. 7). Now I think he is saying, “Refresh my heart too, by showing Christian compassion to Onesimus and to me, by letting him return to assist me here in Rome.”
Verses 21-22:
21 Having confidence in your
obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I
say. 22 At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that
through your prayers I will be given to you.
· “Having confidence in your
obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I
say.” – Paul’s letter, full of
appeal, was also full of hope. Paul knew Philemon to be a kind and
compassionate man, and he had every confidence to expect that he would fulfill
his Christian duty and do even more than Paul had requested of him. This confidence
was based on the long friendship between Paul and Philemon and their mutual love
and respect.
·
“At the same time also prepare me a lodging” – Apparently Paul, in the expectation
that he would eventually win his case and be freed from prison, was planning another
missionary trip that would include Colossae, and he knew that warm Christian hospitality
always awaited him at Philemon’s home.
· “…for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.” – Paul wanted Philemon to pray along with him that they would soon be together again.
Verses 23-25:
23 Epaphras, my fellow
prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus,
Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ be with your spirit.
· “Epaphras, my fellow
prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,” – The Greek word Paul uses to describe his friend, Epaphras
is, συναιχμάλωτος (sun, with + aichmalōtos), which
literally means, “fellow captive or prisoner of war.” Used by itself αἰχμάλωτος
means “one taken captive by the spear.” (from aichmé, “a spear,” and halotós,
a verbal adjective, from halonai, “to be captured”), hence it denotes “a
captive,” cf. Luke 4:18.
· “Epaphras greets you…as do [John]
Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.” – Each of these names is also mentioned in the conclusion of
the letter to the Colossians (cf. Colossians 4:10-17). This confirms that the
two letters went to the same place, namely, Colossae, where Philemon lived.
· A sad note about Demas: At the writing
of these two letters Demas was still serving alongside Paul and was apparently still
a trusted colleague. However, by the time we get to 2 Timothy written near the
end of Paul’s second Roman imprisonment Paul sadly wrote in 4:9-10, “Make
every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world,
has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”
· “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” – Paul closes his little letter to his friend with a simple benediction expressing his hope that the Lord might be gracious to Philemon and his family, and might refresh his spirit the way he had refreshed so many others.
CONCLUSION:
Unlike Paul Harvey’s stories, we do not know the ending to the story of Onesimus and Philemon. We can make guesses. We can hope it all turned out right. We can believe that Philemon did the Christian thing and forgave Onesimus, that they hugged and made up, and that Philemon sent Onesimus back to Paul with cash in his pocket and with his heartfelt blessing. However, all of this would be conjecture because we simply don’t know.
But there are a few tidbits of information still floating around after almost 2,000 years that are intriguing to say the least. William Barclay in his Daily Bible Study commentary series tells a story that I find compelling.
Let us move on about fifty years. Ignatius, one of the
great Christian martyrs, is being taken to execution from Antioch to Rome. As
he goes, he writes letters--which still survive--to the Churches of Asia Minor.
He stops at Smyrna and writes to the Church at Ephesus, and in the first
chapter of that letter, he has much to say about their wonderful bishop. And
what is the bishop's name? It is Onesimus; and Ignatius makes exactly the same
pun as Paul made--he is Onesimus by name and Onesimus by nature, the profitable
one to Christ. It may well be that the runaway slave had become with the
passing years the great bishop of Ephesus.
If all this is so, we have still another explanation.
Why did this little slip of a letter, this single papyrus sheet, survive; and
how did it ever get itself into the collection of Pauline letters? It deals
with no great doctrine; it attacks no great heresy; it is the only one of
Paul's undoubted letters written to an individual person. It is practically
certain that the first collection of Paul's letters was made at Ephesus, about
the turn of the century. It was just then that Onesimus was bishop of Ephesus;
and it may well be that it was he who insisted that this letter be included in
the collection, short and personal as it was, in order that all might know what
the grace of God had done for him. Through it the great bishop tells the world
that once he was a runaway slave and that he owed his life to Paul and to Jesus
Christ.
Did Onesimus come back to Paul with Philemon's
blessing? Did he become the great bishop of Ephesus, he who had been the
runaway slave? Did he insist that this little letter be included in the Pauline
collection to tell what Christ, through Paul, had done for him? We can never
tell for, certain, but it is a lovely story of God's grace in Christ--and we
hope that it is true!