PHILEMON (Forgive others as God forgave us)
Author: Paul
Date: About A.D. 60 during Paul’s first imprisonment.
Purpose: To convince Philemon to forgive the runaway slave and accept him as a brother in the Lord.
Key verse: “Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord” (1:15,16).
Key people: Paul, Philemon, Onesimus.
Location: Colosse, Rome
Special features: A private letter to a friend Philemon. A practitioner of faith.
Philemon: A wealthy Christian has many slaves at his disposal living in Colosse. The church meets in his home. (Col.4:9,), saved through Paul’s ministry (1:19).
Apphia: Probably Philemon’s wife.
Archippus: Probably son of Philemon. Archippus pastored the Church at Laodicea (Col.4:16,17).
Paul: Despite being in prison, he still has time for individuals like Onesimus. Paul loved this slave and made a strong appeal for the reconciliation and forgiveness for this slave.
Onesimus: Onesimus meaning ‘useful’ servant who soon to be restored to his master’s household, back in work.
Uniqueness of the letter:
The letters of Paul have been arranged on the same principle as the prophets in the Old Testament. The longer books occupied front places in the Bible. So the letters of Paul are arranged in two blocks: his letters to the Churches and his letters to individuals. With these two blocks, the longer comes first and the shorter comes last. That’s why, they are not in chronological order. Philemon comes last only because it is very short and this is the only letter in the entire Bible written to only one man. It is about a run-away slave and obviously a personal letter in the New Testament. This letter provides in full colour the beautiful and majestic transition from slavery to kinship that comes as a result of Christian love and forgiveness.
The letter of Paul reminds us that God’s love and relationship to mankind is intensely personal. When we read other big letters to the churches, we may get a sort of impression that God does not care for persecutions or trials in a single household, but this letter stands as a strong evidence that God’s love is personal which can be experienced in our every day’s life. Further this letter profoundly affect the lives of the believers in churches where people of different social stratum are the members of the church.
What happened to Onesimus: It appears that Philemon had treated Onesimus well and as a brother in the Lord. Onesismus rose up to the level of Bishop of Ephesus.
As per the records: (cited in Cyril C. Richardson, ed., Early Christian Fathers [New York: Macmillan, 1978], p. 88): Church Father Ignatius of Smyrna on his way to martyrdom in Rome wrote: to the Ephesian church. “I received your large congregation in the person of Onesimus, your bishop (pastor) in this world, a man whose love is beyond words” and again in the “Early Christian writings” in the “Epistles of St. Ignatius” pg.39 point [5] Father Ignatius death probably occured sometime in (A.D. 98-117).
Onesiumus was a teen when Paul wrote to Philemon (A.D. 60). So it was quite possible Onemus was the Bishop leading the church in Ephesus who came to meet Father Ignatius. This is a fitting tribute to Philemon’s forgiveness and Paul’s spiritual nourishment to both Philemon and Onesimus. Oh! What a wonderful story.