Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer. Philemon 1:1
Two men stand at the door of a beautiful home in the ancient city of Colosse and knock on the ornate door. They appear tired and dusty from travel, and one of them appears a little nervous. Slowly the door is opened by an aging and well dressed gentleman. Seeing the first man standing at his door, the gentleman’s face bursts into a broad smile, and with delight he almost shouts, ‘Epaphras, my friend!’ He gives the traveller a warm embrace of welcome. He then turns to the second man, the nervous man, and his jaw drops in shock. ‘Onesimus?’ He can scarcely believe his eyes. Onesimus bows deeply, smiles nervously, and hands the gentleman a letter. What happens now?
We’ve used a bit of imagination to set the scene for the delivery to its destination of Paul’s epistle to Philemon. So far, we are probably not far off. But we are never told what Philemon did with that letter, or how he treated the runaway slave now standing on his doorstep. The man standing before him deserved a beating. We have to doubt that he received that beating, based on the contents of that letter from Paul. This epistle provides some of Scripture’s best advice for how Christians are to accept each other regardless of our past.
Onesimus’ past was pretty rocky. A slave in Philemon’s home, he had run away, probably stealing money or valuables as he went. Now, he does come back a totally different person. Encountering Paul in prison in Rome, he was saved, and as a Christian he had developed into a willing and able helper for Paul. He proved himself a faithful brother to other Christians in Rome, and had likely become a good Gospel preacher; Philemon could appreciate that. But it was Paul’s letter that contained an appeal to Philemon that this godly man must surely have responded to with grace and love.
Did Onesimus return to a slave’s role in Philemon’s home? Unlikely. Do we receive each other according to their former state, or as beloved brothers and sisters? – Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/IP3Uey68rHw