Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ and brother Timothy: to Philemon, our dear one and co-worker, ·also sister Apphia, Archippus our fellow-soldier and the church in your house—·grace to YOU and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philemon 1-3 PH)

Thanking my God, I always remember you when making my prayers —…·that the sharing of your faith may be effective in the realization of every good thing among us for Christ. ·For we have great joy and encouragement in your love, brother, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed through you. ·Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command the appropriate thing of you, ·yet for love's sake I am rather Paul, as an old man, entreating... ·you for my son, the one I have fathered [Gr. e-genneesa] during my imprisonment—Onesimus, ·once unprofitable to you, but now profitable to you and to me. ·I am sending him up to you. This is my very heart. ·I would have kept him for myself, so that in your place he might have ministered to me in the chains of the Gospel. ·Yet I would do nothing without your consent, so that your good might not be, as it were, done of compulsion but of free will. ·And perhaps (it is) through this hour of his separation that you may have him back forever: ·no longer as a slave but above a slave as a dear brother, especially to me yet how much more so to you—in the flesh as well as in the Lord. (Phlm.4,6-16 PH)

If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would me. ·If he has wronged you, and owes you anything, put that on my account. ·I, Paul, write with my own hand: I WILL REPAY!—so that I need not say to you how you also owe me your own self. ·Brother, may I truly profit from you in the Lord! In Christ, refresh my heart! ·I wrote to you having confidence in your obedience, knowing that you will do above and beyond what I say. ·Yet also, at the same time, prepare lodging for me; for I trust that through YOUR prayers I shall be delivered to YOU… ·The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with YOUR spirit. (Phlm.17-22,25 PH)

Paul…and brother Timothy: ·To the…brothers and sisters in Christ at Colossae: Grace to YOU and peace from God our Father… ·Tychicus—a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord—·…I have sent to YOU, ·together with Onesimus, a faithful and dear brother who is one of YOU. They will apprise YOU of all things here... ·Greet the brothers and sisters in Laodicea; also Nympha and the church in her house. ·And when this letter is read among YOU, make sure it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans—and that from Laodicea YOU read that letter too. ·And say to Archippus: Recognize the ministry that you have received as a partner in the Lord, so that you may fulfill it! (Colossians 1:1-2; 4:7-9,15-17 PH)

That YOU also may be acquainted with my affairs…; Tychicus will make everything known to YOU... ·Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 6:21,23 PH)

To get the full impact of the story of Onesimus in the New Testament, we need to first see that the letter to Philemon was not just a private letter. Like the other two letters Paul wrote at the same time, it too was written to a group of believers. Yes, Paul speaks personally to Philemon (‘you’, singular) in most of this letter, but he begins and ends the letter speaking to all the believers (‘YOU’, plural) who meet in Philemon's house and who are praying for Paul's release. Secondly, Philemon's home—where Onesimus has been a slave—may actually be in Laodicea, even though Onesimus originally came from Colossae (Col.4:9). For the Archippus who is part of the church that meets in Philemon's house, seems to be identified in the Colossian letter with Laodicea (Col.4:16-17).[i] These two factors, if true, significantly increase the drama of the story of Onesimus.

The Phrygian cities of Laodicea and Colossae were only 17 kilometers apart on one of the main east-west roads through the Roman province of Asia. So when Paul traverses ‘the highland regions’ of Phrygia on his journey from Galatia to Ephesus [53 AD][ii] (Act.18:23; 19:1), he probably spends some time in Laodicea—since it was the largest and most important of the two cities. Here he meets Philemon, leads him to new life in Christ (Phlm.19). A deep friendship develops as Philemon becomes Paul's ‘co-worker’ and ‘partner’ in establishing a church in his home—with Archippus as their ‘fellow-soldier. And while based in Ephesus over the next two and a half years (Act.19:10; 20:25), he undoubtedly visits them again—getting to know the slave, Onesimus, as well.

About eight years later, during Paul's imprisonment in Rome [+61 AD],[ii] Onesimus turns up at his door. He has run away from his master, Philemon—possibly traveling to Rome on money stolen from his master—yet now he becomes a spiritual ‘son’ to Paul. This may mean that Paul now leads him to Christ, but as we have seen in other meditations, the Greek verb translated ‘fathering’ [Gr. e-genneesa] is more about publicly identifying and relating to a son as an adult heir than it is about just being responsible for his birth (Jn.1:13, Med.#58). And we see Paul now ‘fathering’ Onesimus by giving him responsibility and a very difficult task. After Tychicus delivers a letter for Ephesus and the other churches in Asia[iii], Onesimus is to accompany him with another letter to Colossae and update the believers there on Paul's situation in Rome. But this will mean traveling through Laodicea first, and delivering a third letter—to his master, Philemon! This is for sure a difficult encounter, especially after Onesimus has tasted both the freedom to travel, and even more the freedom in the Spirit of being treated by Paul and others in Rome as a ‘brother’ in Christ. And to travel on to Colossae with Tychicus, he must now—as still a slave—ask Philemon’s permission to do so.

After Philemon reads Paul's letter, he has a lot to think about. Paul has acknowledge his authority as a slave owner, by ‘sending up’ [Gr. anapempsa] Onesimus to him to make the determination in his case.[iv] Yet he also appeals to Philemon as a fellow adult son of the Father, to make a public ‘free will’ decision: to receive Onesimus back as a freeborn ‘brother’ socially (‘in the flesh’), as well as a brother ‘in the Spirit’. And while he reminds Philemon that he owes Paul his life, he treats him as an adult son. Instead of ‘commanding’ him, he challenges him to receive Onesimus as he would Paul himself, ‘for love's sake’. And he expresses his confidence that Philemon will obey Jesus and do ‘the appropriate thing’. He tells Philemon of his plans to visit soon, and Paul also promises to 'repay' him for whatever his ‘son’, Onesimus had stolen from him. Moved by the letter, Philemon probably allows Onesimus to accompany Tychicus to Colossae and deliver the apostle's letter to the church there; for he needs time to consider the social implications of Paul's request.

Little does he realize, though, that what seems to be a private request is soon going to become a public matter for the whole church! For when Paul's letter to the church in Colossae is read aloud there, everyone hears that there is another letter in Laodicea that Paul wants them to hear too. And he wants a copy of their letter to be read aloud in the church in Laodicea. And it contains a message to Archippus—a fellow leader with Philemon—that he needs to ‘recognize’ what ‘the Lord’ is doing, and so ‘fulfill’ the particular ‘ministry he has now ‘received as a partner’ to Paul. And he will know what this means, since the contents of the letter to Philemon is about to become public knowledge in the house churches in both cities!

As we look back at three centuries of ‘white’ Christian support for the slave trade and the long-term enslavement of African peoples, we see how powerful social conventions can be. Why did so many church leaders and Bible teachers fail to read the words about slaves and masters in the Ephesian and Colossian letters in the light of the letter to Philemon that Paul wrote at the same time?—one that challenged the slave-ownership of fellow Christians! Perhaps they feared the social consequences to themselves if they preached on Philemon as a public matter for all Christians and not just a private letter to one slave owner. But maybe they didn't grasp the message of Philemon because they only knew God as a Master who commands, and not as a Father who challenges us as adult sons and daughters in Christ to make ‘free will’ decisions ‘for love's sake’ as led by the Spirit. We will only experience the full mutual ‘profit’ of being fellow-heirs in the Father's family kingdom when all of us refuse to ‘profit’ from fellow believers who are being socially or economically oppressed—even if we have to pay a price to help all of them find full freedom and reconciliation in Christ!

According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, Onesimus was given his freedom. He became bishop of Byzantium (present day Istanbul) and died a martyr's death in Rome in 68 AD—only a few years after his spiritual ‘father’, Paul. Are there any social conventions contrary to God's word that you need to stand up to today on behalf of a brother or sister in Christ?

Father, you judge all people impartially according to their deeds. As your obedient sons and daughters we choose to be holy like you, and not be conformed to the social desires of this age that we used to follow in ignorance; for when your kindness and fondness for all humanity appeared, you saved us in accord with your mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renovation of our minds by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, so that with him we might become your heirs. (1 Pet.1:14-16; Tit.3:4-7; Rom.8:15-17; 12:2)

[i] See Wm. Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, under ‘Archippus’ in his introduction to PHILEMON, pp.273-4.

[ii] Through links in the detailed version of this meditation, members can check out these dates in several ‘chronologies’ of  the events in Paul’s life and ministry

[iii] The letter we call ‘Ephesians’, written at the same time as the ones to Colossae and Philemon, was probably a circular letter that Paul sent with Tychicus for all the churches in Asia, since the words ‘in Ephesus’ (Eph.1:1) are not found in the earliest manuscripts.

[iv] For this meaning of anapempsa, see the only other three times it is used in the New Testament (Lk.23:7,11,15).