In
summary, Philemon was a friend to Paul and a fellow laborer in the vine.
Philemon was also known to be a legal slave owner. The name of the slave was
Onesimus - a Greek name associated with meaning useful, profitable, beneficial.
Philemon - a Greek name associated with meaning affectionate.
Philemon
was a member of the church in Colosse at the time. Meanwhile, Paul (the writer
of this epistle) was imprisoned in Rome. Onesimus escaped from his slave master
Philemon-in order words, Onesimus was a runaway slave. Upon his escape,
Onesimus made his way to Rome, where he eventually met with Paul who led him to
Christ.
Before
long, Paul encouraged Onesimus to return to his slave master Philemon. Slaves
who ran away from their master were subject to death - for the fear of being
killed, I want to believe that Onesimus was hesitant about returning to
Philemon.
In
this epistle, Paul pleads to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, asking Philemon to
receive Onesimus not as a slave, rather a fellow brother in the Lord. Paul in
this epistle, called on Philemon to credit his account on any charges owed by
Onesimus to Philemon and he (Paul) will pay on behalf of Onesimus.
Let’s
delve deeper into the epistle Paul wrote to Philemon and together benefit from
what the Father has prepared for us this season as we begin this series titled
“Brother’s Keeper”.
In
this series, we will be embracing a selfless journey; we’ll learn the
significance of being one another’s keeper, how it is our responsibility to
care about the welfare of our fellow brethren. This series will certainly cause
us to re-examine how well or not we treat others; how far we will go for
another and more. We trust that you will be blessed as we journey together.
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