Overview of Philemon

We come to the last letter attributed to Paul, and it’s also one of his shortest letters. It is one of Paul’s undisputed letters, meaning no one disagrees it was written by Paul.

Paul wrote this letter to Philemon while in prison, though there is some debate about when. We know Paul is in prison (Philemon 9) but the question is which time. Was it when he was imprisoned in Ephesus (55-56 CE), in Caesarea (57-59 CE) or in Rome (early 60s CE)?

We don’t know where Philemon lived, but we have reason to suspect it was in or near Colossae, as there are parallels between this letter and Colossians. Both mentioned Timothy as a co-sender (Colossians 1:1 and Philemon 1), Epaphras (Colossians 1:7 and Philemon 23), Archippus (Colossians 4:17 and Philemon 2), Onesimus the focus of this letter (Colossians 4:9 and Philemon 10), and others (Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24).

Because of this, some suggest the letter to the Colossians and this letter were sent together, which would potentially date this letter in the early 60s CE.

Philemon 1-7 - Greetings, thanks, and prayer

Philemon 8-20 - Paul’s request

Philemon 21-25 - Closing greetings

The focus of the letter is Onesimus. He was a slave that was owned by Philemon that ran away. Paul encountered him and took him under his wing, but he’s now sending Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter.

Paul writes to Philemon to encourage him to not only forgive Onesimus but to accept him back, not as a slave, but as a brother.

Philemon

Paul opens with his usual greeting, as well as thanksgiving and prayer. Paul is grateful for the love that Philemon share will all believers, and for the faith that he has in Jesus. Because of this, Paul prays that this will continue and that Philemon will be effective in sharing this faith with others.

The Greek word for ‘sharing’ here is koinonia, and it carries with is a sense of fellowship. This faith is something that Philemon participates in with others. It is not a solo affair. We saw it used a lot in Philippians to talk about the partnership and unity believers have with Jesus (Philippians 1:5, 2:1, 3:10). This is noteworthy because of how Paul draws on this idea of unity and partnership in the rest of the letter.

Paul has been greatly encouraged to hear has Philemon has been an encouragement to others in the church.

And so Paul jumps into the meat of his letter. It is because of the great love that Philemon has shown that Paul now writes this letter. He could try to compel Philemon to do what is right, but Paul would much rather appeal to the love Philemon is already showing.

Paul is writing on behalf of Onesimus, who has become like a son to Paul while he has been in prison. As a slave to Philemon, Onesimus was useless. But since then, he’s not only been useful to Paul, and Paul seems to think he can be useful to Philemon.

If Paul could, he would keep Onesimus with him for that support, but he recognises that there is this unresolved tension. So he is sending Onesimus back in the hope that the two can resolve their issue in good spirits.

Paul even speculates this might be why God allowed Onesimus to run away, so that he could grow under Paul and then return to Onesimus not as a slave but as a brother.

And so Paul finally brings the request. He asks Philemon to accept Onesimus now, as a brother, just as he would Paul. As his master, Philemon has every right in the Greco-Roman world to punish Onesimus harshly for abandoning him. But Paul is asking Philemon to respond, not according to his rights, but according to his love.

We then see Paul embody the gospel. If there is any debt owed by Onesimus to Philemon, let Paul pay it. In this, Paul embodies Jesus, who was willing to allow any sense of debt caused by our sin to be attributed to him so that we might now experience freedom.

Paul assures Philemon that it would mean a lot to him if he would do this. He then asks Philemon to prepare a room for him for the next time he visits and shares some final greetings.

So far in Paul’s letters, we’ve read as slavery has been mentioned a lot (see 1 Corinthians 7:20–24, Ephesians 6:5–9, 1 Timothy 6:1–2, and Titus 2:9-10). In all these mentions, the focus has been on not letting the young Christian faith be co-opted by a slave liberation movement. Instead, slaves should do what they can to model God to their masters, and vice versa. This has been Paul’s general stance to the churches.

But when faced with a specific scenario, Paul is able to give a more personal and nuanced response. Yes, Onesimus was a slave, and yes, Philemon has every right to punish him and enslave him again. But he shouldn’t.

Instead, he should now accept Onesimus as his own brother with forgiveness and love. This one specific example isn’t going to jeopardise the future of Christianity, and it should and did serve to future generations of the ideal that should be worked towards.

This letter also serves as a great lesson for general rules and guidance versus application in specific situations. Paul’s previous guidelines were good for the time. They would allow the Christian faith time to survive and establish itself without being co-opted or stamped out, while still demonstrating the transformative power of the gospel.

But in the specific lives of Onesimus and Philemon, Paul could bring in a better and more nuanced response that more fully embodies the gospel in the lives of these two men.

In the same way, there are practices and guidelines that are good and beneficial as recommendations for the church. But when it comes to individual situations, they have to be taken on their own merits to identify the best way to embody the gospel in them. That is Philemon.

Psalm 22

Psalm 22 is one of the most famous of the lament psalms. It is the psalm that Jesus quoted on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Biblical lament is whenever a person takes their pains, hurts, and frustrations before God. It tends to include four steps; turning to God, bringing the complaint, making a request of God, and then declaring trust in God.

Throughout this psalm, we see the psalmist go back and forth through each of these steps. Sometimes complaining about their sufferings, other times asking God to do others, and then moments of trusting in God before turning back to their sufferings. This psalm is attributed to king David.

The psalm is rich and full of meaning and layers. The structure of the psalm is a chiasm where the passage mirrors itself.

a) Psalm 22:1-2 - God feels absent

b) Psalm 22:3-5 - But God delivered our ancestors

c) Psalm 22:6-8 - Yet I am worthless

d) Psalm 22:9-11 - Do not forget me, God of my youth

e) Psalm 22:12-13 - Enemies surround me

f) Psalm 22:14-15 - My strength is worn out

e) Psalm 22:16-18 - Enemies surround me

d) Psalm 22:19-23 - Deliver me from my enemies

c) Psalm 22:24-25 - God is faithful

b) Psalm 22:26-27 - People will praise God

a) Psalm 22:28-31 - God is king

While the idea of complaining to God can offend of a lot of Christians today, it has a deep rooted history in the Bible. Here the psalmist is letting God know that it feels like he has been abandoned. Why has God forsaken them? It’s like he doesn’t answer them.

The psalmist then pulls themselves back a little by focusing on God’s past record. God saved and delivered their ancestors. They were able to trust in him, and he never put them to shame.

But then, turning back to his own life, the two don’t seem to line up. The psalmist’s ancestors may have not been put to shame, but he sure has. He is mocked and despised, and all for putting his trust in God.

Again, the psalmist tries to pull himself back from the pit of despair. He reminds himself, and God, on all the times that he has been able to trust God in the past. This leads him to ask God to be close to him through these struggles.

Then the psalmist mentions the ‘strong bulls of Bashan’ (Psalm 22:12). This reference might be lost to us, but at the time it carried a lot of meaning. Bashan was a place to the north of Israel that was linked to the spiritual rebellion.

It was where a lot of cultic worship happened in the northern kingdom and is also believed to be the site of one of two golden calves made by one of the northern kings (1 Kings 12:25-33). For some it was seen as the gateway to hell.

So for the psalmist, the ‘bulls of Bashan’ would have been an Ancient Near Eastern equivalent of saying the ‘hounds of hell’. It felt like the very forces of death and darkness were surrounding them.

Which brings us to the psalmist's lowest point. Their strength is gone, and they feel wasted away. It’s at this point the structure begins to reflect itself. Just as the psalmist fell surrounded by death and darkness, they are also surrounded by a more tangible threat of enemies seeking to destroy them.

But now they’ve finally reached a point where they can reach out and hold properly to God in the midst of their pain. Just as they had previously asked God to not forget them, the psalmist now asks that God defeats their enemies.

While they had only been able to focus on their own worthlessness, now they turn to God’s goodness and faithfulness. Where God has been faithful to ancestors of the past, the psalmist of the present and others will praise God now and forever.

The psalm began with the confession that it felt like God was absent and his people groan, unable to find rest. It now ends with the declaration that God is king and his people shall prosper.

Psalm 22 is an incredible lament psalm that works through some of the deepest suffering and turmoil can experience. But all the way through it models for us how to wrestle with these things, so that we can ultimately stand in who God is and trust in his goodness.