Study Tips: Author's IntentionSample

How did you summarise Paul’s message to Philemon yesterday?

Here’s what we came up with:

‘Paul, a prisoner of Christ, writes to Philemon to appeal to him regarding a beloved new brother in Christ named Onesimus, who formerly had been Philemon's slave. Paul asks that Onesimus not be received back as a slave, but as Paul’s beloved son in Christ and therefore Philemon’s beloved brother.’

We’ve spent four days immersing ourselves in this letter, trying to grasp what Paul said to Philemon. Today we’re going to think about its theological significance. In John 5:39, Jesus told the scribes: ‘You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the scriptures point to me!’ How does this letter point us to Jesus?

The summary we shared draws on the themes of slavery, sonship, and brotherhood. In some letters, Paul introduces himself as an Apostle. In this letter, he calls himself a prisoner. Paul has a high status in the church, but here he chooses to emphasise his low status in the world. He does the opposite with Onesimus. Paul refers to him using familial language. Paul has become his father. Philemon should therefore receive Onesimus ‘no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother.’ Paul asks that this escaped slave, a man of the lowest social status, be received as though he were Paul the Apostle himself.

This is all because of Jesus. Because Paul and Onesimus are ‘in Christ,’ they are equal members of the same family. The same Heavenly Father has adopted Onesimus and Philemon. When we join Jesus in His death and resurrection, we become His co-heirs, brothers and sisters called to reign with Him. Colossians 3:11 says: ‘Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.’

Jesus’ death and resurrection transform us from slaves to sons of God. It transforms our social hierarchies and status. Who we are in the world is superseded by who we are in Christ.

How can you draw some theological significance from the summary you wrote yesterday? Write one or two sentences about what this letter tells you about who Jesus is and/or the difference His death and resurrection make.

Read Philemon.