During Paul's first confinement under house arrest in Rome, he remained a very busy apostle. There must have been nearly constant traffic in and out of his rented quarters, as Paul himself was not permitted to leave. At some point one of those who came and found spiritual birth under Paul's ministry was a runaway slave, Onesimus. There is a wealth of legend and speculation attached to this name, and too much of it seems extravagantly spurious. We simply don't have enough reliable information, so we are confined to what seems most obvious from this letter Paul wrote, returning the slave to his master. It seems plain this letter was sent at the same time, and by the same hands, as Paul's epistle to the Colossians. Philemon was a wealthy man, and hosted a church in his home in that city.
Paul opens with the standard formal greeting of that day, and includes Philemon's wife, Apphia, and Archippus who pastors the congregation. It is obvious Paul knows them all personally. Since this is a private letter, we can assume Archippus is a member of the household, too, likely a son of Philemon. Then Paul includes a greeting to the congregation. He offers a blessing for Philemon's strong commitment to Christ, as evidenced by his reputation for generous hospitality, hosting Christian travelers in his mansion.
Paul notes he could easily conduct the business of this letter by his apostolic authority. It's not as if there could be any civil consequences, and Paul would be aghast at such a thought. Rather, his authority would stop at boundaries of the faith community. The worst thing he could do is have the churches ostracize Philemon for disobeying an apostolic command. But that would be an abuse of such authority, and Paul dispatches that suggestion at the start.
The whole purpose is to draw Philemon up out of the ways of the flesh, and to persuade him to operate in the flesh by spiritual power and justice. Paul avoids the issue of Laws, and appeals to the deeper matters for which Laws are but a symbol. This is a personal appeal from Paul, an aging man in prison for the sake of that very otherworldly matter of serving Christ. On this basis, he offers an appeal on behalf of the man who bore this very letter, a man only recently spiritually born into that otherworldly Kingdom.
We get the picture of a runaway slave Philemon may have decided was no great loss. Making a play on the name Onesimus (Greek: "profitable"), Paul notes the slave was previously quite a problem for Philemon -- "unprofitable" -- but that has all changed. This is not the same man at all, but completely profitable to both Paul and Philemon. He now bore the very heart of Paul in his return. How much Paul would have loved to keep that slave for himself, having been so very useful! He could have asked no greater gift from Philemon, and would have bragged to others of such a generous contribution, but that was not according to God's justice so long as Philemon hadn't actually sent Onesimus knowingly.
Instead, Paul wanted Philemon to reckon the lost labor of this former nuisance as a small price to pay for the slave's entrance into the Eternal Kingdom. Philemon could have his slave back for now, in a better frame of mind to serve, and fellowship with a new Christian brother eternally. Paul had already come to love him, so how could Philemon still be upset?
Just to be sure, Paul offers to take over any losses associated with running away. The wording indicates it was more the matter Onesimus was simply a poor steward than that he intentionally stole anything. We get the feeling he ran because he was in trouble. He no doubt knew where Paul was, and surely had seen Paul was such a worthy and kind man. Then again, there was a sense in which Philemon owed his very self to Paul, along with his large estate. But if Philemon was of a mind to keep an account of losses, Paul wrote with his own hand a promissory note within this letter to settle the account. Meanwhile, Paul had no real worry Philemon would be vindictive with his slave, and wanted the man to prepare to receive Paul in his home in the near future. Surely Philemon had been praying in full faith for Paul's release, so let him walk in that faith.
Paul closes with greetings from those at his side whom Philemon would remember.
By Ed Hurst
09 July 2011
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