The Faith – the things we know and believe, also known as Christianity or Messianic Judaism, was at its best and purist in the middle of the First Century when it was led by Messiah’s hand-picked Jewish apostles. Let’s learn from this short letter to Philemon, written by one of those very special emissaries, a human being chosen by God to represent the Lord – Rabbi Paul, along with his disciple Timothy, about what the normal Christian life was like in the First Century. That will challenge us to be better Christians and Messianic Jews today.

Here is the background: It’s about 30 years since the Messiah, the One who is correctly called Immanuel, which means God With Us, died a terrible death on a Roman cross, but then rose from death, and ascended to Heaven to be at the right hand of God the Father – where He is right now! By means of the incarnation, and Messiah’s sinless life, and His atoning death, and resurrection and ascension and the giving of the Spirit to those who believe in the Son of God, our greatest enemies, the very real forces of Satan, sin and death were overcome!

Rabbi Paul, one of the greatest men of God who ever lived – scholar, apostle, emissary, representative of Messiah to the Gentiles, passionate evangelist, author of much of the New Testament, is getting toward the end of his life. Paul is now an older man. This was his first of two Roman imprisonments. From a Roman prison or from house arrest, the Rabbi from Tarsus and his disciple Timothy, who was with him wrote this letter to Philemon, who was a leader in the church in Colossae, a city in ancient Asia Minor, which is now present day Turkey. Even though he was in prison or under some kind of house arrest, Paul was not alone in Rome. He had a team who worked with him and were with him, including Timothy, Luke and others.

The main subject of this letter is the need to extend mercy and grace. I like what Charles Ryrie wrote in his introduction in the Ryrie Study Bible. “Onesimus, one of the millions of slaves in the Roman Empire, had stolen from his master, Philemon, and had run away. Eventually, he made his way to Rome, where he crossed the path of Paul, who led him to faith in Messiah. Now Onesimus was faced with his Christian duty toward his master by returning to him. Since death would normally have been his punishment, Paul wrote this wonderful letter of intercession on Onesimus’s behalf”.

Let’s start at the beginning of this letter and continue where we left off two weeks ago: Paul, a prisoner of Messiah Yeshua, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church (congregation, community) that meets in your home. After Paul and Timothy identified themselves as the authors, and specified those to whom they were writing, they prayed a short but deeply meaningful prayer for these saints in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah!

Grace is unmerited, unearned, undeserved help. That is a tremendous thing! Peace is wholeness, completeness and everything-that-you-really-needness, and that is a marvelous thing to ask God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, to bless the sons and daughters of God with –  that even though they may be flawed, incomplete and unworthy, that the Father and the Son give them all the help they need to succeed; that all their needs in every area will be supplied, so that in a fallen and satanically controlled world they can live a successful, God-honoring, God-pleasing life, and be rewarded with eternal life in the World To Come! We need to be praying for one another to receive grace and peace.

At this point in the letter, Paul takes over the writing and addresses Philemon, the head of the community that met in his home. I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Yeshua and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Messiah. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Paul thanked God for Philemon for several reasons: because Philemon knew that Yeshua was the Lord and Savior, and Philemon had transferred his loyalties to the Messiah. It is a marvelous thing when a human being becomes faithful to the Son of God. It is something very special, something that honors and pleases the Father, something to thank God for. And Paul thanked God because Philemon loved God’s saints, His holy, special people whom the Lord had set apart to accomplish some very special purposes. Philemon loved the children of God. He tried to do what was best for them. He cared for them. He served them. He went out of his way for them. He tried to build them up spiritually and physically. He may have opened his home to traveling servants of God and gave them room and board and hospitality. And, when a human being cares for God’s set-apart people in real and tangible ways, and helps them physically and spiritually, that is wonderful and brings happiness and encouragement to those who know the Lord. God loves his sons and daughters, and Philemon’s love for God’s people was something to thank God for.

Philemon was a good spiritual leader in the First Century Church. That’s why Paul prayed that the influence of Philemon’s knowledge and faith and love for God and man would extend further and further, and encourage and bring joy to more and more people.

Paul and Timothy complimented Philemon by addressing him as a dear friend and fellow worker. Paul praised his faith and love and thanked God for him and prayed for him. Now the Rabbi gets to the purpose of this letter, which is to ask Philemon to be gracious and merciful to his run-away slave, Onesimus, whose circumstances had dramatically changed since his last interaction with Philemon. Therefore, although in Messiah (which means because I am joined to Messiah, and because of my position as one of Messiah’s apostles, one of Messiah’s representatives to people on Earth; because of my spiritual authority that Messiah has given me) I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.

This is an important principle in dealing with God’s people – that if possible, it is better to deal with them by appealing to their sense of right and wrong; appealing to their conscience; appealing to their sense of duty; appealing to virtues like love. Relating to people on the basis of power, force and authority is inferior. It is better to appeal rather than to command, to have people who are motivated from within rather than from without. Slaves may need to be forced. Sons and free men are to be appealed to. Paul had the spiritual authority as one of Messiah’s representatives to command obedience, but he knew it was better to appeal.

Paul appeals to Philemon to act in a gracious and merciful way toward his run-away slave on the basis of love. I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love – love – Paul’s love for Onesimus; Philemon’s love for Paul, and Paul’s love for Philemon; and their mutual love for the Three-in-One God. Love is a powerful force and a very strong motivator. Human beings will do things they may not want to do, things that are not in their self-interest, if they are motivated by love.

Next the Rabbi lists some additional factors that should motivate Philemon to respond positively to the appeal for grace and mercy that Paul is making: I then, as Paul – an old man and now also a prisoner of Messiah Yeshua. Paul is an old man and a good man, and old and good men are to be respected and honored. Paul is also a prisoner who has been unjustly imprisoned, and prisoners who have been unjustly imprisoned should be pitied and helped so that their lives are made better. So, Paul adds the factors of old age and unjust imprisonment to appeal for love, hoping that these factors will help motivate Philemon to do what Paul is about to ask him to do – to forgive Onesimus and not punish him for stealing from him and running away.

As Philemon is receiving this appeal, Paul lets him know that he needs to consider others important things. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. Onesimus had become a Christian. He had become close to Paul, like a son. And this escaped slave had been undergoing a genuine transformation. He was no longer a thief. He was no longer a useless slave, but was now useful – useful to God, useful to Paul, and he would be useful to Philemon, if Philemon was gracious and forgiving to him. Onesimus was beginning to fulfill name – which means useful. Why would Philemon want to punish someone who was a new Christian and finally becoming useful – the way God intended him to be?

Paul lets Philemon know that Onesimus had become very close to him. I am sending him – who is my very heart – back to you. Paul loved Onesimus. And, if someone we love, loves someone, we try to do good for the one that the one we love, loves.

Being loyal to God means obeying God-ordained rules. Now that Onesimus was a Christian, he needed to follow the laws of God and the laws of man. The laws of the Roman Empire required slaves to serve their masters. It was Onesimus’s Christian duty to return to Philemon. Paul lets Philemon know that he would have preferred something else – that Onesimus remain with him. 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 Good News. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. We are our brother’s keeper. If a Christian is arrested because he has been declaring the Good News about salvation from the forces of Satan, sin and death that is possible by the coming of the Son of God into this world, and by Messiah’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension and giving of His Spirit, then other Christians have a responsibility to help that brother.

It was Philemon’s duty to help Paul in his imprisonment. Philemon was not there to help Paul, but his slave Onesimus was, and he was an adequate substitute. But, Paul was respectful of Roman law, even though it embraced an evil like slavery; and, Paul was respectful of the principle I mentioned before – that it is better to deal with God’s people by appealing to their sense of right and wrong, appealing to their conscience and sense of duty; appealing to virtues like love, and not dealing with them on the basis of power, force and authority. And so even though Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him in Rome, Paul decided that the right thing to do was to send him back to his master in Colossae. Then, Philemon might freely choose to send Onesimus back to help Paul. Even though this solution was inconvenient and difficult for Paul, and for Onesimus, and for Philemon, it was God-honoring thing to do.

Philemon had a right to be angry with his slave who stole from him and ran away. Philemon even had the right to turn Onesimus over the authorities, who may have put Onesimus to death. That was the law. But, greater purposes were at work, and the Sage from Tarsus wanted the leader of his Christian community to consider what God was doing. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. Lord is able to use bad things to bring about a greater good – like Joseph being unjustly sent to prison but then being promoted to Prime Minister of the mighty Egyptian Empire and then being in a position to save thousands of people from famine; like Yeshua being unjustly executed, but because of His innocence and His death, then being able to provide Messianic salvation to the entire world!

Paul sensed that the living God was at work in these unusual circumstances with Philemon, Onesimus and himself.  The Invisible God Who Works Behind The Scenes to help and deliver had brought Philemon’s escaped slave to Rome and to the influence of one of the greatest evangelists who ever lived. The God Who Alone Is Able To Save had used temporary separation to create eternal unity; to turn a relationship of master-slave into the superior relationship of brother-brother! This was something wonderful, something to be happy about. It would have been wrong for Philemon to use the law and have Onesimus punished. Grace and mercy and forgiveness were needed, not law.

Paul continues his appeal to Philemon to treat Onesimus well based on shared values and interests. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. I am sure that Philemon did consider Paul his partner. Their common loyalties to the Kingdom of God; their shared beliefs; the spiritual work they engaged in, serving the Lord together; their mutual desire to bring the Good News to a lost and dying world made them partners – partners who wanted to treated each other well. Because of his new loyalty to the Three-In-One God, Onesimus had entered Paul and Philemon’s fellowship. Because of his faith, this slave whom Paul felt very close to had become another partner. So, it only made sense that Philemon treat this new partner well, just as he would treat his partner Paul.

Truth and wisdom and reason help to create peace and understanding. So does money! Adding practical things – like money for restitution, also helps bring peace and understanding. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back.

God had used Paul to do a very important thing for Philemon. Not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Messiah. Paul reminded Philemon that he owed him his life. It could be that the Jewish Rabbi was the one who first brought the eternal life-saving message to Philemon. When someone saves your life, you owe them a big debt. If Philemon owed Paul his very life, and if Paul was calling in just a small portion of that debt – asking him to be gracious to Onesimus, Philemon owed it to Paul be gracious to Onesimus.

Paul was confident that the leader of this New Covenant Community would respond positively to this well-reasoned appeal: Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Paul was hopeful that his first Roman imprisonment was about to end. And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. When he was released, the intention of this great servant of God was to go east from Rome to Colossae, where he expected to be received into the home of his hospitable friend and partner and brother, Philemon.

I mentioned before that Paul was not alone in Rome. Others were there with him, either in prison like him, or assisting him and working with him in evangelism and building up the community in Rome. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Messiah Yeshua, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

This short letter ends like it began – with a short, powerful prayer for grace – God’s unmerited, unearned, undeserved blessings – which is exactly what Onesimus needed. The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit.

I conclude by observing from this short letter some of the things that characterized Christianity/Messianic Judaism in the First Century. These are things that more and more we should try to become:

• Their identity was rooted in God – not what the world thought of them or did to them. Though they were arrested and imprisoned, they knew they belonged to God who loved them.
• They had a sense of victory, that no matter what the world did to them, the world couldn’t overcome them.
• They tried to see the Creator at work in all of their circumstances, even if those circumstances weren’t good – circumstances like prison, or damage caused by an escaped slave.
• They had an expectation of rejection by the world and a willingness to suffer.
• They had very close relationships and serious commitments to each other. They had a strong sense of partnership and teamwork. They were a community characterized by love, fellowship and hospitality.
• They had good servant-leadership. The leaders were strong, godly, yet humble.
• They had shared spiritual and moral values.
• They knew the importance of grace, mercy, forgiveness, redemption.
• They served the Lord together, working hard in evangelism and building up the community.
• They prayed a lot. They prayed for one another.
• Because of all of these things, they had a happiness that was not dependant on the world or their circumstances.

May God make us more and more like the New Covenant Community of this part of the First Century!