Philemon 1-25. Be sure to read the “Intro to Philemon”. You will probably also want to read “The New Testament Dissection” and maybe even “Paul “Sent One” to the Gentiles”. Paul writ the letter to a personal friend, Philemon, who was also a leader in his local church. In fact the church met in his home. Apphia is probably the wife of Philemon and Archippus may be his son. Verse 3 is a typical greeting in many of Paul’s letters. Sometimes he adds “hope” too, but for the Christians of his day “hope” often was associated with the idea of spending eternity with God and of God making his kingdom on earth. Hope now was a reflection of what the future was going to be. If you read the introduction this “personal” letter was about a very current event and as we will see Paul expects a current response.
In verses 4-7 Paul tells Philemon that he is very thankful for the kind of man he has become as a Christian. His faith in Jesus has affected his actions toward others. Philemon’s care for others has been a source of great joy for Paul.
In verses 8-9 Paul begins to deal with the situation but it is interesting how he is going to do it. In verse 8 he tells Philemon that he feels he has authority in Philemon’s life to order him to do certain things. But in verse 9 he tells Philemon that he doesn’t believe he has to order him. As an older man who has lived a life for Jesus (and paid quite a price for it) Paul was going to ask Philemon to do what is right.
In verses 10-16 Paul tells Philemon that he is begging him on Onesimus’ behalf. He calls Onesimus his brother and informs Philemon (and us) that he has led Onesimus to Jesus. We also learn that Onesimus has been a big help to Paul while he has been under house arrest. In verse 11 Paul makes a play on words when he talks about Onesimus being useless to Philemon but says that now he is useful to both Philemon and to him. The name Onesimus means “useful” but he had become useless to Philemon when he ran away. But now he was going to be doubly useful both to Paul and to Philemon. In verse 13 we see that Paul wanted to keep him with him because of all the help he had been and he compliments Philemon again when he tells Philemon that he is sure Philemon would have sent Onesimus to him if he had thought Onesimsus would be helpful to Paul. Basically he is telling Philemon that Philemon is the kind of guy who always wants to do all he can to help others. But if Paul just kept Onesimus and said, “Hey I knew you wouldn’t mind!” He would be forcing Philemon to be helpful. He would be saying, “Thanks for all your encouragement in the past I’m going to let (force) you to give just a little bit more.” According to verse 14 Paul wanted Philemon to back of his own free will. In verses 15-16 Paul suggest that this whole thing may have been a set up by God for a much better ending. As a slave Onesimus ran a way and became useless to Philemon but now as a “brother” in Jesus he was back in a way that could never end.
In verse 17 we see the closest Paul comes to actually telling Philemon what he wants him to do, accept Philemon back as a brother and partner. Philemon had the right under Roman law to punish Onesimus maybe even have him executed for running away, so Paul’s request is quite extraordinary. And then there is the matter of Philemon’s loss, he had lost the value of the work Onesimus would have done if he hadn’t run away. In verse 18-19 Paul tells Philemon if money is a problem Paul will pay back Philemon for his loss, he even signs the letter like a contract so there can be no question. Paul is very serious about giving Onesimus a chance. Some people think that Paul is twisting PHilemons’ arm a little with what he says at the end to verse 19 but that would be out of character with the rest of the letter. This is probably like verse 9, Paul is reminding Philemon that he too has paid a price for following Jesus.
In verse 7 Paul had complimented Philemon on how he had encouraged others (he used the word “refresh” there), now here in verse 20 he asks Philemon to do the same for him (by treating Onesimus right). In verse 21 he is sure that Philemon will do whaat is right and more because of Philemon’s obedience. As we saw before Paul was not using his authority as a church leader to command Philemon to do anything so the obedience here is to Jesus. Paul has encourage Philemon to think, “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) and he is sure he will do it.
In verses 22-24 Paul ends with a typical closing for a letter, mentioning common friends that are with him. Kind of like, “Hey, Mark says hi.” In verse 25 he end the letter with a benediction or blessing or wish (but it’s really more that a wish) or prayer that Philemon’s spirit will be filled up by the loving goodness that comes from Jesus being his savior. He wants Philemon to live out his faith in Jesus from the depth of his being.
In the Intro to Philemon I asked the question, “What will Paul do?” So what did he do about the situation. He did something that has horrified “moral” people ever since, he failed to order Philemon (and Christians through out the ages) to release Onesimus and never ever again think of enslaving another human being. In Proverbs 24:21-22 Solomon warns us to “fear the king and do not associate with those given to change”. Why? Change is good right? The reason is, people given to change, rebels, are often squashed by those in power (Proverbs 24:22a). We see in the end of verse 22 that not only the king can make trouble but that trouble comes from the rebels too. We certainly saw the trouble overthrowing slavery brought on the United States and in the end the war didn’t really accomplish it’s goal. The slaves were free in name but in reality they faced man trials. I’m not saying slavery is good, it is not. And I’m not saying that slavery did not need to end, it did. But here in Philemon we have the real solution for slavery and others evils in our society too. The real solution is for individuals to commit their lives to Jesus and to then live out that commitment regardless of the cost. In Rome slaves were freed but then they had nowhere to go. In the case of Onesimus, Philemon was to treat him as a brother and best friend, whether he stayed a servant or slave or whatever in Philemon’s house or not. And notice Paul wanted the actions to come from Philemon’s will, he wanted them to be a reflection of the freedom and forgiveness God had given him. Philemon’s actions were to be based on love not law. In 1 Timothy 1:5-11 we see this idea when Paul tells us that laws are for people who are disobedient to God but the goal of Paul was “love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a true faith.” Paul teaches us that people who don’t honor God with their lives will have to be forced to live right lives. In Romans 13:4 Paul told the church in Rome that the government was a servant of God to keep order. He also told the church in Rome that the government had a sword to enforce it’s laws. People break rules, we have since the beginning. Rules will be necessary and enforced as long as we live evil selfish lives. The real and only solution for mankind’s problems is for each person to turn their lives over to Jesus, allow the Holy Spirit to come into them and show them what Jesus would do and then for them to do it. It starts right here with you and me. You want to change your world, then change your life.
God help me do what you would do. Expand the population of my own little world (Check out the song “My Own Little World” by Matthew West). Give me your eyes for the people around me (check out the song “Give Me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath). Give me the wisdom and the courage and the faith and peace to live each day, each moment, for you as especially as my life effects others.
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