The Gospel in Philemon

Exploring Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Philemon

The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau by Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Forgiveness is hard. It is easy to talk about it, preach about it, and write about it; however, when it comes to actually forgiving someone, it is hard to practice what one preaches. But have you ever wondered why it is hard to forgive someone?

The central reason as to why it is hard to forgive someone is because when you forgive, you pay the price. It is not the one who asks for forgiveness but the one who gives it. This is why it is always hard to grant forgiveness to anyone. Not to mention that the greater the price, the harder the forgiveness.

With this in mind, let us look at the Epistle to Philemon.

Introduction to Philemon

Philemon is one of the shortest epistles written by Paul in the New Testament. It has only one chapter. However, it speaks volumes on the topic of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, as those are the central themes of the epistle. Paul wrote this epistle from a prison in approximately 62 AD.

There are only three characters in this epistle: Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus. Paul is writing this letter to Philemon, in whose house a church used to meet (1:2). He seems to be from a rich family as he had a house big enough to run a church and from the fact that he owned slaves. The third character Onesimus is peculiar. He is a slave who not only ran away from his master Philemon but who did so probably while stealing some money from him. However, what’s fascinating is that later, he met Paul in prison and was saved (1:10).

Throughout the letter, Paul urges Philemon to show love to Onesimus because Onesimus then came to know the Lord and because he was useful to Paul. Interestingly, Philemon means ‘loving’, and Onesimus means ‘useful’.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

The themes of forgiveness and reconciliation are woven into the very fabric of this epistle. But what do ‘forgiveness’ and ‘reconciliation’ mean? “Forgiveness is a decision to not hold something against another person, despite what he or she has done to you.”¹ “Reconciliation is the restoration of a relationship to a harmonious state after a dispute; it is the bringing of accord out of discord between two parties.”² Hence, reconciliation is achieved through forgiveness.

Paul here is acting as a mediator on behalf of Onesimus and asking Philemon to forgive his runaway slave. Paul urges Philemon to reconcile his relationship with his slave Onesimus. In addition to that, Paul elevates the status of Onesimus from a slave to a brother (1:16). This was something a person living in a Jewish context would never do, as slavery was socially accepted. In fact, it was so rampant that many believed that there were more slaves than free people.

The Gospel in Philemon

Here’s where it gets even better: just like Paul took the initiative to reconcile Onesimus to Philemon, Jesus took the effort and initiative to reconcile humanity to God. Paul was willing to pay the price that Onesimus owed to his master Philemon; Jesus paid dues, all that we owed unto God our Master, which we would never have been able to pay to God, and He did it with His own life as a sacrifice. Once we were useless, but now we are useful to God, just like Onesimus (1:11). Paul became the mediator between Philemon and Onesimus, just like how Jesus became our Mediator between God and humanity.

From Philemon being the master of the slave Onesimus to both becoming slaves of Christ, this short letter urges us to ask and give forgiveness and seek reconciliation because in and through Christ, we have been reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:18-19)!

May the Lord help us to be at peace with others and reconcile our broken relationships.

See you next time!

---

If you like such posts, consider financially supporting us via

GooglePay: elvischika@okhdfcbank
PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/ElvisChika007.

1. https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-forgiveness.html

2. https://www.gotquestions.org/reconciliation.html