Paul is asking Philemon to receive Onesimus back into his household. He will say that he has apostolic authority to order Philemon to do the right thing, but instead he prefers to make the appeal based on love. We will also take a look at how Christ pursued Onesimus, who fled the household of one Christian man only to end up hearing the gospel from another Christian man.
Paul is writing this letter while a prisoner in Rome. "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker---also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier---and to the church that meets in your home: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philemon 1:1-3) Paul is a brilliant writer. His salutation sets the stage for what he's about to ask, for in it he includes subtle references to his suffering for the gospel, to his and Timothy's authority in the church, and to the fact that Philemon is his and Timothy's brother in Christ. Philemon is going to feel both compassion and respect while he reads the words of Paul.
Many scholars believer that Apphia is Philemon's believing wife and that Archippus is Philemon's believing grown son. We know they are believers because Paul refers to Apphia as "our sister" and to Archippus as "our fellow soldier". We also learn that a church meets in Philemon's home, so he is a man who actively works for the kingdom of Christ. Paul is saying, "Remember who you are. You are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. God has forgiven you in Christ and has made you into a new man. In your dealings with Onesimus, you must keep in mind that you too made serious mistakes before you knew Christ, and you must remember that just as God had mercy on you, you need to have mercy on Onesimus who is now your brother in Christ."
"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all His holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people." (Philemon 1:4-7) Paul is sincere in these compliments to Philemon. He isn't "buttering him up" in order to ask a favor of him. This man really is a devout Christian who loves others in the way Christ commands us to love others. Because Philemon has the love of Christ in his heart for his fellow man, Paul feels confident he can count on him to do the right thing in regard to the situation with Onesimus.
"Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul---an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus---that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me." (Philemon 1:8-11) Paul mentions his advancing age and his status as a prisoner in order to stir up Philemon's sympathy. He's saying something like, "Do an old man a favor. Cheer up a man who is in chains for the gospel."
We don't know how or why Onesimus, the runaway slave, ended up in Rome in close proximity to Paul. But there's no doubt he came to faith in Christ under the preaching of Paul. If he had not, Paul wouldn't be calling him the son he begat while a prisoner. Paul refers to other young men like Timothy and Titus as his sons because they too converted under his preaching. None of these men are his biological sons, but they are his spiritual sons because he has taken on the role of father figure in their lives.
There were various reasons why a person might become a slave in ancient times. Sometimes these were people whose territories were conquered by the Roman Empire, and the Romans took many of the people captive in order to use them for manual or domestic labor. A person might become another person's servant for a period of time in order to work off a debt he couldn't pay. In other cases people even sold their children into slavery to pay off debts, so Onesimus could have been a victim of this practice. And still others were born into slavery because their parents or grandparents had been taken captive. We don't know why Onesimus was a slave or how he ended up in the household of Philemon. All we know is that he was once a man who was "useless" to his master. He refused to perform his duties and instead ran away, and some scholars think he probably stole from Philemon to fund his passage to Rome, for Rome was about 1276 miles from the city of Colossae from which Onesimus fled.
Since Philemon has been in Christ long enough to have a church in his home, it is widely believed that he was probably already a Christian before Onesimus ran away. So it's ironic that Onesimus fled the household of a Christian man and went to pagan Rome only to somehow find himself visiting the dwelling of another Christian man. This is a beautiful illustration of the way Christ lovingly pursues us! Perhaps it wasn't Philemon or slavery that Onesimus was really running from; perhaps he was actually running from Christ. Yet when he arrived in Rome, Christ was already there ahead of him waiting for him.
The Lord Jesus Christ pursued me as relentlessly as He pursued Onesimus. I wasn't trying to "find" Christ; I was running the other way. Yet at every turn, there He was. I couldn't outrun Him. I couldn't hide from Him. I painted myself deeper and deeper into a corner until there was nowhere to turn except to Him. And in that moment, as the psalmist David said, "He reached down from on high and took hold of me." (Psalm 18:16a)
Our passage today reminds me of a song about the relentless pursuit of Christ, so in closing I'll post a link to it below.
God Of All My Days
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