Philemon

I was reading a newsgroup this morning when I came upon a posting that linked to an article on Philemon, which happens to be my favorite New Testament book. I realize we're not supposed to have favorites, and that Philemon all by itself would certainly be insufficient for much of anything. But taken in concert with the revelation we have in the rest of the NT, Philemon really provides us with such a poignant picture of our relationship with God that it has quickly become my most beloved epistle. And I have a comparatively short attention span, so the length of the letter is just perfect.

The historical context is fairly well-known: Paul is writing a letter to his friend and brother in the faith, Philemon, on behalf of Philemon's slave Onesimus. Onesimus ran away from his master, and we are given to understand that in so doing he probably deprived his master not only of his services, but also some goods (verse 18). In that time, animals had more rights than slaves; a man might be imprisoned for beating his horse, but he could do whatever he wished with a slave.¹ Running away from your master would likely be considered an offense punishable by death.

We know from historical records that at the time the letter was probably written, a slave uprising in Rome (where Paul was prisoner) led to the death of a prefect. The penalty exacted was death for all of the slaves of the household (of which Secundus reportedly had 400).²

It is in this situation that we find Onesimus, a runaway slave in Rome around the time that 400 slaves are executed. He, too, is under the sentence of death.


I take some time to establish this historical background for two reasons: first, because it interests me, and second, because it represents so well the situation in which we find ourselves vis-á-vis God: running away and under condemnation.

Like Onesimus, we are fleeing, conscious of our guilt. And like Onesimus, we are sovereignly brought to a relationship with the Savior (v15). Paul here acts as a type of Christ, and suddenly the words that he writes become dramatically more meaningful:

If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account; I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it:

(vv 17-19a) In the same way, when Christ returns us to God, he says to the Father, "Receive him as though he were me." He says, "Whatever he owes you, I will pay." And that is such a comfort; in my worse hours, I am often reminded of these verses, which send me running back to the Father.

The Greek here is actually very strong, because Paul uses a first class condition. We might rather translate the phrase, "Since you count me as your partner, ...." Paul does not use rhetoric here, or make a command; he is rather assuming that Philemon indeed is his partner in the faith, and that he will therefore treat Onesimus like he would treat Paul.

The corollary is indeed a revelation of grace. God the Son requests God the Father to receive us, not on the basis of our own merits or abilities, but rather because of his relationship with the Father.

There's more there, of course, but the kernel of the letter is found in those three verses. This is where the gospel may be found, and what good news it is! Our Savior does not condemn or accuse; he assumes the penalty.³


[1] Details are abundant on the web; see here and here for examples.

[2] See Tacitus' Annals, 14.42-45, quoted here.

[3] As a post script, if you compare what I think about Philemon and what the Journal of Biblical Accuracy thinks about Philemon, I think you'll find them at least marginally different. While I would consider their reading true to the letter, I don't know that I would consider it true to the spirit. My intention is not to be critical toward the JBA, but rather to show an example of where reading with an anthropocentric view of Scripture causes us to completely miss the point.