Video Transcript: Philemon

Welcome to our Biblical Studies lecture series on prison epistles. We have covered Colossians and now we move to look at Philemon. Philemon is a very interesting book. It is only one chapter. I don't know how many of you like to read Philemon for fun. I don't know if you have ever taken the trouble to actually study Philemon on your own. I even don't know frankly if you have taken the time even in your devotion time to Philemon or maybe I should ask have you heard a sermon on Philemon ?

When you think about Paul's letter to Philemon what comes to your mind? But before we get into the letter, we'll have to look at some interesting things that actually emerges in modern scholarship as we think about this letter. The first thing that we look at in light of modern discussion is the dates and the authorship. This particular lecture series we call prison epistles. At the very beginning of this lecture, I actually drew your attention to the fact that some of the books in this collection of prison epistles are disputed by scholars as not having been written by Paul. Two of those books that stood out is Colossians and Ephesians. The two that are undisputed in a prison epistles are collection that we look at in this series is Philippians and Phil. If you like call it the PnP. Pauline authorship of Philemon is not disputed. And yet, Philemon continued to pose all kinds of questions to scholarship today.

So let's begin the discussion on Philemon assuming or establishing that Paul wrote this. At least most scholars, I haven't actually found in a serious argument to even try to dismiss Pauline authorship. So Paul is the author of Philemon. When was Philemon written? As we think about Philemon, we think about specific dating. Since I mentioned to you earlier on that this letter was probably written from Rome. The dating for Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, is placed between 61 and 63 A.D. or as we will use in modern days CE referring to the Christian era. Some do have suggested that Paul was in prison somewhere and this could be Caesarea depending on your pronunciation or Ephesus and they will play around the date. But whatever location you put Paul’s imprisonment, the dating is not going to be significantly removed from each other. It's never going to be like five years removed from each other. By the way, I should draw your attention to the fact that all New Testament books are dated between 50 to 80 50 years. So there's no such a remarkable change for us to be able to work with and say all the time went on. To some degree that is the easier part of our New Testament studies. 

Unlike our Old Testament colleagues, who have to work so hard to establish the dating between the events, and the writing of the event and the dating of the writing of the event, the traditional dating, and what some scholars think is the dating based on vocabulary. And all kinds of issues that emerge, New Testament we're going to pass on that is fairly straightforward. Meet to the end of the first century. These particular times for specific can be placed between 55 68 maximum. More narrow, as most scholars will argue today, and as I would argue between 60 and 63 there in that bracket.

And if we take that, then Paul will be writing this from his jail in Rome. Paul claims authorship and he claims that he's writing this explicitly in Philemon 1, Philemon 9,  and finally in Philemon 19. Remember that Philemon does not have chapters. So when I when I say Philemon one I mean the first verse, the ninth verse, the 19 verse, okay. But as you think about Philemon, you also want to think about another letter, because where was Philemon written? This is almost a straight shot question for scholarly discussion. Most most probably, this letter was written to Colossae. And it was written to a specific individual, at a church at his home in Colossae. So it makes sense always to look at the relationship between this letter and Colossians. Because not only do we establish this, but internal evidence between these two letters show that there is enough reason to actually suggest that these are close letters that are related. 

The only irony in this whole thing is one is undisputed that Paul wrote the other scholars dispute that Paul wrote. So let me just point some of this out to you the relationship between Philemon and Colossians. Both letters were written from prison. So that should give you a sense there in how Paul introduces himself. Timothy and Paul are presented as the authors of these books. Paul says he's writing with Timothy. He said that about Colossians and he says that about Philemon. The people mentioned in the greetings of both letters overlap. In fact, as I will show you in a few minutes, you will see that Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke also appear in Philemon as you find in Colossians.

And interestingly, the slave in the account of Philemon, Onesimus is also mentioned in Colossians chapter four verse seven to nine. So you can see what is going on here. That when we think about a church in Colossae, we don't think about a church in which you have one cathedral and 200 people come to church every Sunday. No, that is not how the early Christians in the first century function. They actually met in people's homes. We know from archaeological evidence that rich people had enough space for clubs and various societies to have meetings. And one of the things that perhaps should be stressed here or be put forward here is that we don't have any evidence to suggest that there are homes that can take more than 50 people at a time due to the size of the living rooms. So when we imagine the early church and their meetings, you imagine house churches not more than 50 people at a time and multiple house churches in the bigger city. That is what should come to mind as you think about the churches in Colossae. So when Paul would draw our attention about the church that meets in Philemon’s home that is the imagery you should have. So it is very likely that a church that is going to have access to Philemon or hear the content of Philemon would also have access to Colossians and have it read to them aloud in your church meeting.

If that is beginning to make clear let me show you some of the internal evidence that link these two letters. One, look at introductions of these two letters, Philemon one and Colossians one. Philemon one actually begins by saying Paul is the one writing it. And he's doing this with Timothy, our brother in Colossians one verse one. Paul is the one writing it and he is writing it with Timothy, our brother. Note a major shift in the conversation because I'll bring something up here from here later on, that here Paul introduced himself as a prisoner for Christ Jesus. But in Colossians, he introduced himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus. Hold on to the thought that in Philemon he introduced himself as a prisoner for Christ Jesus. Let me go on and also show you another internal evidence to show you a parallel in this letters. When you look at Philemon, you see in the last greetings, Paul mentions Epaphras. In Colossians, chapter four, you see Epaphras mentioned. Here you see Mark mentioned and Mark is mentioned in Colossians four. You'll see another name there. Aristarchus gets mentioned first on the list in Colossians, four ten. We see the name Demas. Well, Demas is mentioned in Colossians 414. You see, Luke? Luke is mentioned in Colossians 4:14 where perhaps the only place Paul referred to him as a physician, that we will come to know about.

So one of these you are beginning to see in this comparison is Philemon and Colossians are letters that will be accessible to both churches and if and letters that are written by the same person. Except you hold to the arguments that Colossians was written by someone. That was why when we were discussing Colossians, I was quick to point out that one of the things that worked to undermine the argument that Paul didn’t  Colossians is the very fact that the authorship of Philemon is not disputed. If these internal proofs are evidence then how can you say Paul wrote one but Paul didn’t write the other. Is the church so dumb that they can have one that is written by a fictitious figure pretending like Paul and doing all these things within such a timeframe and have them sit back and say, oh, yeah, we believe that probably Paul wrote it. Paul didn't write it. And then think about it 1900 years later. We figure it out that actually is probably the right day in the first century. They were deceived. And the church the rest of the church have been deceived for almost 1800 years. Believing a lie. We have just figured out Paul didn’t write it, the evidence and the way the arguments go is interesting. And that is an understatement. In modern assessment, it is good to see increasing pattern and acknowledgement of Pauline authorship of both letters. So we treat this letter as a letter that went together with Colossians and as the letter that was written by the same person that wrote Colossians.

Now, this letter is addressed to Philemon. It actually begins like this, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy our beloved brother to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker and Apphia, our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house, Grace to You, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the question might be asked who is Philemon? Philemon was someone by indications that we get from this particular letter, that he was probably a rich person. He probably belong to the upper class in the city of Colossae. He owned a big house enough to have a church meeting in his house.Definitely he owned slaves, but I should qualify that owning a slave is not by itself, any particular indication about the wealth of an individual because in the ancient world, as I mentioned, in the discussion on Colossians. Slavery was common in a major city. Between 30 and 35% of the population will be made up of slaves. Slavery was not linked to race. If your neighbor owes you a whole lot of money the neighbor will exchange could exchange that with a daughter or son who is brought in as a slave to serve you in exchange for the debt. That is what there was something called money mission. One could pay the way and buy their freedom as slaves. Think about the world in those terms. And imagine that people who have slaves are not necessarily super wealthy. But the other indications we have in the text to suggest that Philemon was economically sound or wealthy.

His profession? We don't know. We can always surmise based on Paul's itinerary, that he was perhaps a businessman that Paul came into contact with on one of his trips. We know that as far as his conversion to Christianity is concerned, Paul led him to Christ. And Paul will be quick to mention that as one of his leverage points to make an appeal to this man. Paul is also quick to point out in this letter, that Philemon has worked in ministry with him. He calls him a fellow worker and a partner in Philemon one in Philemon 17. He ministered alongside Paul

As far as leadership is concerned, and what we know about Philemon’s leadership. Philemon is actually having people meeting in his home, which would suggest to us that he was probably the leader of the church in his home. So let's put this into context as we go on to examine more of the background before we look at the text a little bit more closely.

Paul, who was in jail in Rome, was writing to his former convert at Colossae. His name is Philemon. He was probably a businessman. But as far as his close relationship with Paul is concerned, he has actually worked side by side with Paul in ministry, and have even a church that meets in his home. Perhaps, Paul has even been a distant consultant to this guy. I'm saying all this to actually refresh your mind and to bring you to the point that Paul has a close relationship with this guy. Let's see how Paul uses that in of course of the discussion.

Before we turn into this text, I want to draw your attention to a few things about this letter. In one modern scholarship there have been arguments and argument continues. In fact, as a matter of fact, just two years ago, I was part of a major debate on this particular subject or the Institute of biblical literature in our international conference. Who was Onesimus in Philemon. Well, one reading of the place or the role of Onesimus is to see him as a runaway slave. Slave fugibitos is the Latin expression. Sometimes we use and to say that Philemon was a slave as Onesimus was as slave to Philemon and Onesimus somehow got opportunity to run away and he just took off and run and run far away so that his master couldn't get hold of him. He had not become a Christian. So he was being such a rebellious slave who would actually move quickly and do everything he's supposed not to do. 

But guess what happened? While he was still out there he comes across a man that his master knew by the name of Paul. Perhaps he had heard his name somewhere. This man was in jail. He perhaps had contact with Paul and Paul led him to Christ and this change, the runaway rebellious slave began to change his way of conduct. As Paul will say later in his letter, then he will become useful to Paul in so many ways. Paul will have confidence to be able to send him back to his master. So that's one reading of Onesimus in the text. It’s called scholarly argument on who is Onesimus. The second argument actually goes as this. We like to use Latin expressions sometimes to impress each other that we know what we are talking about. And the Latin expression for the second view is amicus domini, which is to say he was a runaway slave, but he did not run away with the intent to run away for good. He found opportunity to run away with the intention to go and talk to somebody his master knows so that the person will come and intercede for him. Do you see the difference between this and the previous one? In this instance he was a runaway slave. But he was a good runaway slave because he was not running away at the loss of his master. But he just doesn't like the way his master was treating him. So he was running away to find someone his master respects so that he can appeal to him to talk to his master. So his master will be very nice to him.

Some scholars do read this letter from that point of view, so that Onesimus is not depicted as this bad guy who was going to be a major loss to his master, or who deserved to be punished as soon as his master saw him. One thing you want to note about that view, as I would argue with some of my colleagues, is the very notion that it is only Onesimus. Who knows what his intent was. But as far as his master is concerned, he could still see him as run away, like the first view view that he ran away. The master will not know that he was running away, to ask for someone to intercede and all that. This is actually a disclosure of intent on the part of Onesimus and not the perspective of Philemon. Some scholars will still insist that that should change the dynamic and the way the letter is received. And the way Philemon treats Onesimus.

And then there's a third reading. The third reading says, Wait a minute. The guy was not a runaway slave. The guy was a slave. But actually the guy was a slave who was sent by his master Philemon to go and help Paul while he was in jail. So after helping Paul Paul sends him back. In this view, Philemon is the good guy. He's the good guy who has always been loyal, faithful and wonderful to Paul. And who has Paul's deepest interest at heart and says, I need to get somebody to go help my friend Paul while he was in jail. So I'm sending one of my slaves Onesimus, perhaps one I can trust and will come back and be good to Paul to go and serve him in his jail, and then later on, come back. So it was why he was coming back. That Paul writes a letter to say, thank you for sending this guy to me. I want you to receive this guy now in a new spirit. He’s been a great guy. Give him promotion among the ranks of your slaves. Treat him nicely, be wonderful.

Whatever view you hold in the way you approach this text, affect the way you look at Philemon, even affect the way you look at how Paul is making his appeal on his behalf. And it's also affect your imagination of how this guy coming back to the house. He's physically coming back. What would be the state of his mind? If he was going there to find an intercessor he should still be scared because he master doesn’t know that he went in to look for intercessor. If his master sent him, he should be coming up with some degree of confidence. I get to come back and use use my bedroom again. And then I get to meet some of my slave friends in the house. It is a whole scenario when you imagine this. I would say the difficulty is that the text of one chapter is such that you can actually make all these arguments somehow.

I like to read Philemon as a letter written by Paul to Philemon appealing on behalf of his runaway slave. Whether he’s runaway slave seeking the help of an intercessor to negotiate on his behalf or running away for good. The recipient of the letter cares less and really had no idea of the intent of the runaway slave. Runaway slave should be scared trying to come and hopefully hopefully hopefully hopefully the church that meets in his house had opportunity to read Colossians first even though those letters were all coming the same time. They got opportunity to read Colossians first in which they hear Paul mentioned on Onesimus and  actually gave him some really good spin over there so that Philemon will say, Oh, is that my slave? What is he doing with Paul? At least prepare the ground a little bit. If not imagine Onesimus is coming back scared to death and when he sees his master ready to pee in his pants. I read this letter that way. And because of that, I would suggest that Paul need to make such a strong appeal both to convince Philemon that this runaway guy is now good and honestly most knowing that this is no good news coming back can be a little bit relaxed that if his master gets this letter at least he gets to read the letter first before he finds some really calls to whip him or give him some brutal treatment.

If we work that way. Then we are looking at this in a very special way. If we work with the fact that he was sent by Paul, by Philemon to Paul to help him then we are suggesting that Paul is appealing for some degree of money mission. Paul is trying to say he should release his slave. Negotiate to release him as cause. We'll make that argument appeal to these verses and I'd like us to read that so that you make your mind whether it makes sense from verse 11. It reads formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him who is my very heart back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent. So that any favor you do will not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever. No longer as a slave. And note verse 16. No longer as a slave, but better than a slave as a dear brother. He's very dear to me but even dearer to you. That was translated dear and dearer to think about agapetos, beloved both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. 

So those scholars will pick this text and say this actually argues that Paul wants money mission for Onesimus. I would suggest that that is not clear in this text at all. Because when he said he was separated from you for a reason, he did not say you sent him to me for a reason. For me, the clue around the in verse 15 seem to suggest that  Philemon has not done something willingly sitting back and expectantly anticipating the return of his wonderful emissary to Paul in Rome. That is why I like to read it the way I proposed to you earlier. But I also want to draw your attention to another issue about this letter. Please promise me not to laugh. Promise me not to scratch your head because scholars talk about things like this too. It is proposed that Onesimus was actually a slave of Philemon, that Philemon as a Christian enjoys using sexually as a homosexual partner. And when Paul was in jail, he thought of the slaves that are so good in lovemaking. I think this one would be good for Paul. So he sends him to Paul, so that Paul can also enjoy a sexual relationship with him. 

On the homosexual argument, it is in fact and sometimes suggested that if that was not the case, then the reason why Paul unites this run away from Philemon was because Philemon was abusing him sexually as a homosexual partner. This is a topic when we get into scholars in the habit of trying to hide the names of the colleagues who stand behind these things. Because they may change their mind or they don't want them to be objects of ridicule. But I'll mention at least one but before I do that, let me state that slave masters using their slaves sexually was not new in the ancient world. If our slave masters had the right to use their slaves sexually, so that was another issue. And slaves sometimes were abused. Female and male slaves were abused sexually, by their masters. We know that sometimes some masters in trying to entertain the guests will actually make slaves available at your disposal. Some of this feature in SATA and all kinds of expression try to even make fun and all those about this kind of subject in relation to Philemon specifically. One of the recent articles on this subject is published by Joseph Macau. The title is the usefulness of Onesimus, the sexual use of slaves and Paul's letter to Philemon in the Journal of biblical literature. 

Here arguing for the sexual use of slaves at the background of Philemon Macau states as we scholars struggle to find a sufficient context for this brief epistle. The sexual use of slaves can add shape and nuance to various hypotheses regarding the location of this letter in terms of ancient legal, social, literary and moral background. This condition of slavery has nearly as much historical attestation as the conditions lifted up by various fugitive slave, emissary apprentice slave and third party intersection hypothesis that have assembled around the interpretation of this letter. In other words, if we take all three views we point out, we should add this view to it as well. What are the evidence? Why should that be suggested? Well, the evidence points to the very reason that slave masters use their slaves. But let me also remind you that in the ancient world as it is today, popular culture and ideal virtues are not one and the same. Philosophers and moralist would argue for what is vetoes for society and for decent people. It doesn't mean what you're arguing for is what is practiced in popular culture. So the fact that homosexuals slaves were used homosexually does not necessarily mean that philosophers thought it was a virtue. And if that is so, then a noble person who has become a Christian, one will have to justify further whether the early Christians have clear liberty given to them to abuse or use your slaves sexually as such? 

Macaw actually bring some of these texts to our attention. Misonius Rufus is one of my favorite and look at how a philosopher addressed the issue. If this category belongs to the man who has relations with his own slave mate a thing which some people consider quiet without blame, since every master is held to have it in his power to use his slave as he wishes. In reply to this I have just one thing to say. If it seems neither shameful nor out of place, for a master to have relations with his own slave, particularly, if she, referring to female slave if she happens to be unmarried. Let him consider how he would like it if his wife had relations with a male slave. Would it not seem completely intolerable? Not only if the woman who had a lawful husband had relations with a slave, but even if a woman without a husband should have. Misonius says, those who even do that in society have to rethink that. But Macaw says, look at this kind of text and as you look at this text, doesn’t it tell you that this is so common and prevalent, that is an important part to consider in the discussion. In Horadas “Bittina, I am a slave. Use me as you wish. In other words a slave can be used by the master as they wish. 41:29

Well, Misomius said that yeah, everybody knows that. Horace. now really, when your throat is parched with thirst, you don't ask for golden goblets, do you? When you are hungry and you don't turn your nose up at everything, but peacock and turbot, do you?  When your crotch is throbbing and there is a slave girl or homegrown slave boy ready at hand, whom you could jump right away, you don't prefer to burst with your hard-on, do you? I certainly don’t. In other words, they prevail on slaves sexually. And Horace satires. I like sex that is easy and obtainable, referring to slaves. I have pointed out the evidence that is used by a scholar like Macau to bring sexual relations of slaves into the discussion to actually suggest to you that in my view, it is far fetched to bring this into the conversation. That is not to say we shouldn't know about it. But what seems to be going on in this letter doesn't seem to have much in that regard. 

When we look specifically to Philemon, Onesimus and the use of slave, it is important to note that it was morally wrong for masters to use their slaves for sexual gratification. It is also important to point out that slave master relationship in the New Testament does not expressly state anything to promote, name or indict the sexual use of slaves. So that is the fact we should acknowledge. Some have argued though this argument is fading away pretty rapidly. That early Christians were not forbidding to use their slaves for sexual purposes. And so chances are that Philemon could use that as well. I am suggesting to you in our treatment of this letter that is far from being brought into the discussion to make any reasonable conjecture. I think with all honesty, care, and concern for friends, relatives, brothers and sisters, who have come out to declare their sexual orientation as gays. 

Occasionally scholars have fallen into the trap of trying to argue backwards to justify something that is so close to home. I am not in any way negating the seriousness of some of those issues we deal with on a regular basis in our western civilization. I'll be the first to suggest that the call to love our neighbor as ourselves, is a mandate that extends to all human beings made in the image and likeness of God, including our homosexual brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, relatives. They deserve our love and our care. And we should give them that love and care.

It is another thing to to try to push this back into the scriptures and make where there is no reference a related issue. It is for that reason, I submit that this particular argument with sexual use of slaves are not strong enough, to even feature in a serious conversation. But because it has popped up in scholarship, I feel I owe it to you to let you know that some scholars think this way. But most scholars don't buy the argument. I hope that helps that brings us to the letter itself. 

Now that we have looked at some of the background issues in the opening of the letter, Paul does not introduce himself as an apostle. We know that of all Paul's letters, the only other letters he did not introduce himself as an apostle are the letters that are written to his Macedonian friends. We know he loved his Macedonian friends. He bragged about them in his letter to the Corinthians. They are the most wonderful people and these are the churches in Philippi and Thessalonica. Those churches did not refer to himself as an apostle. Does it mean he did not want to express his strong sense of authority in that conversation? Something that is what is going on here. Clearly here in Philemon with a sensitive issue at stake with a runaway slave returning home, Paul doesn't want to begin his conversation with someone he's going to ask for a favor by showing how powerful he is. If he pulls out his business card too quickly, he may lose the battle too soon. So perhaps he holds back. 

The co-author is named as Timothy and the letter is addressed not only to Philemon but also to the churches in his house. In fact, this is how the line states to Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier and the church in your house. Often we have looked at this letter as only written to Philemon but think about the pressure and I'm going to draw your attention to the pressure Paul is using here. Philemon, I am making a personal appeal because as soon as he finished the introductory remarks of greetings and all that he goes on to make this singular, he made this singular address just Philemon. I am writing to you and I'm going to make an appeal to you. But I want you to think about is the letter is also for the church that meets in your house. Oh what is going on? I want the people who know you as a Christian leader to know what is it that I wrote to you about and how you are responding to that. Do you think it's a pressure? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. The bishop has written to the pastor of the parish and say, Hey, pastor, you know the stubborn guy who caused trouble in the church, and all that. He has come to me. He is very, very good. And I'm sending this letter. Please take good care of him. He has changed his life. I want you guys to give him a hug and take care of him and give him a work in the church. By the way, this letter is not only for you personally, I want the church to know what I wrote to you, so that there is accountability. Oh, yeah, that's Paul. 

And look at how Paul is going to handle the rest here. Paul is clever. In fact Douglas Moo discussion on this letter is what I find so useful. So I depend on him heavily in terms of how I arrange this material. Douglas Moo writes, Paul's imprisonment is a subtle reminder of his own sacrifices for the sake of the gospel. And should lead Philemon to look on his request with sympathy. Paul empties himself of his rights to compel Philemon also to waive his right. So he will not say I am an apostle. He will say I'm a prisoner. Philemon, you were my baby in the Lord and I mentored you. Now that I'm in jail and somebody's going say I am an old man, I need your favor. Please think about your conscience. If you are in that place and you don't do what he's asking you to do. Paul is good. 

But before we go on to verse 4 let's look at a key people mentioned in the letter. Philemon is greeted. We also find the name Apphia there and scholars believe that Affia is actually a wife or a sister of Philemon. And then someone else is mentioned, as a fellow soldier, Archipus. It is suggested that he might be Philemon’s son or a minister of the gospel or both. Philemon’s son who is also a minister of the gospel. If that is so then it makes all the more sense that all these names are members of Philemon’s household. So as soon as Paul finishes that he will then tend to end to the church that meets at your house to set the stage for his thanksgiving. 

It is from here that Paul will go on to give thanks. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love my brother because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Key things in this thanksgiving are the emphasis on his love his faith. Perhaps I should draw attention quickly here that there is an issue here to deal with. Whether the love and faith are all towards all the people or not. So in your translation, you may see some changes there. But I prefer to read it as referring to his love for all his people and his faith in Christ Jesus. 

And as Paul goes on in verse eight, he makes a tentative appeal. But he doesn’t go to the point. He said, accordingly though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required.. Remember he didn't say I'm apostle . I am bold enough to ask you what is required, yet for love sake, oh you have love for the people I mentioned that you know that. For love’s sake, I prefer to appeal to you. I Paul an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus. I appeal to you for my child Onesimus whose father I became in my imprisonment. Here Paul is hunting, if you are Onesimus, the first two minutes of reading the letter. Now you get this anxious desire to know more about what is going on here. And then Paul will come in and lay out his appeal highlighting relationships. Relationship has caught here. He will appeal on the basis of he and his relationship with Onesimus. He will appeal on the basis of Paul's relationship with Philemon, Onesimus’ master and he will strengthen and make a case for relationship between Philemon and Onesimus as the reason why his appeal should be taken very very seriously. 

So let's look at the first one relationship of Paul and Onesimus. He had become a Christian through Paul. The former slave had proven useful. He has been useful to Paul in prison. Paul call him a dear brother. He is Paul's son and he is very hurt. Philemon should know  that Paul has a personal relationship with this guy, he is sending back. The next relationship to form the basis for this appeal is the relation between Paul and Philemon. Philemon should know that he also became a Christian through him, just in case he has forgotten. They are all his spiritual children. Philemon should remember that he is a partner with him in ministry. In other words, he is the minister who should have shared conviction with Paul. So Paul will make the sympathy appeal to Philemon. Listen to me. I am an old man asking you for a favor. I'm a prisoner. I am in chains. I am  a partner and I am a brother. Note Onesimus was a son, Philemon is a son. Hey guys, you are siblings. You have more in common. I am your spiritual father and could you listen to what I'm trying to say and just help me out? Philemon and Onesimus. 

Paul now wants to draw his attention for something interesting here. Onesimus was useless in the past. Paul say I will not deny that he was useless to you in the past. He probably defaulted you with some money. He says I will pay it from my own pocket. He is now useful to Paul and Paul says he will become useful to Philemon too. He has now become a beloved brother of Philemon in the Lord. Paul argues you have got just a brother and you don’t have a brother that you hate. Sometimes brothers fight. You have a beloved brother. In fact, let me read what the text says verse 16, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you both in the flesh and in the Lord. Paul says you don't just have a brother here. You have a brother you should love. He’s a beloved brother. Give him a hug and a kiss and embrace him. Well, this is a slave that should come with strong anticipation that he deserves spanking needs spanking or need some form of punishment for what he had done. Paul is appealing strongly for him. Paul’s strategic appeal is this, explaining his circumstances, he's sending Onesimus back to Philemon. He pressures Philemon by appealing to his sympathy given his difficult situation. And he acknowledges that it may actually be costly, because what he did was not good. But for Paul, he is not going to let that go. So he will state his purpose with a high degree of clarity. I call purpose and pressure. 

So if verse 17 you consider me your partner, receive Onesimus as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything charge that to my account. I Paul write this with my own hand, I will repay it. To say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. More pressure verse 21, confident of your obedience, because I know you obey me anyway. I'm confident of that. I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers, I will be graciously given to you. I will come and visit you and see how you're handling this issue with Onesimus. And then Paul draws conclusion to this letter. Epaphras my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus sends greetings to you. So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke my fellow workers. Th  grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 

The coming of the returning slave. Paul appeals that Philemon receives a brother and it is in this spirit of unity and this spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation that perhaps we all Christians can also think in the area of application of this particular letter. That forgiveness can be part of our lives. Reconciliation could be part of our lives. For Paul pressure was necessary and yet Philemon was the one giving every freedom to make the decision. Paul hopes and pray. We don't know how it turns out. But we all hope that with this form of letter, Onesimus was embraced with love and accepted in the community of faith. 

Thank you for this discussion on Paul’s letter to Philemon. I hope it has shed some light on your understanding and I urge you to read in your own time. Read more about his letter. It is fascinating. If you're a preacher, preach from it. Draw some important lessons from it. I don't hear sermons about this letter. I don't hear all kinds of good things that are in this letter out in the public space. And I hope you have enjoyed this so far. Thank you for staying with us in this biblical studies series. Thank you.

This is Dr. Dan Darko in his lecture series on the prison epistles. This is session number 17 on Philemon.