Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was so that you might have him back for good - no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. (Philemon 15,16)Onesimus, whose name ironically means profitable, is a runaway slave belonging to Philemon. [1] Absconding to Rome, he has been converted under Paul's ministry. Now for whatever reason, Paul must send him back - a risky proposition.
William Barclay reminds us what it was like to be a slave in the Roman Empire. 60,000,000 slaves made rebellion a fearsome potentiality at any time. Runaways were dealt with swiftly and harshly. Their foreheads might be branded with an F signifying them as fugitivus. If the owner decided he was incorrigible, the slave would likely be crucified as a lesson to others.
Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, tells believing slaves to treat their believing masters with more respect, for they are not only their masters, but also their brothers in Christ (6:1,2). He tells Philemon that even though Onesimus was anything by profitable to him in the past, now as a believer his value to both of them is greatly increased.
Fifty years later Ignatius, led in chains from Antioch to be martyred in Rome, writes a letter to the church in Ephesus and their bishop Onesimus. Did Onesimus the slave become Onesimus the bishop? We don't know, but it makes for compelling conjecture.
Who do you need to treat better this week?
[1] Barclay, William. "The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon." The Daily Study Bible Series. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975), 271. I am indebted to Barclay for many of the insights included here.
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