A runaway slave returns as a brother.
The Book of Philemon offers indisputable evidence that Christ transforms people, heals old grievances, and overcomes disparities in social and economic status. The story actually begins in the Book of Acts, with Paul’s arrival in Ephesus (Acts 19:1). His work there over a period of more than two years produced spectacular results, so that “all who dwelt in Asia [Minor] heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (19:10).
Among those who responded to the gospel was Philemon, a wealthy man from Colosse, possibly a merchant traveling on business to Ephesus. Philemon took his new faith back with him to Colosse, where he founded or at least hosted a church in his home. In fact, it was perhaps this same church community to whom Paul’s letter to the Colossians was written (Col. 4:7–9).
Like most wealthy citizens of the Roman world, Philemon owned slaves. Scholars estimate that up to half of the population in parts of the Roman empire lived in some form of servitude. One of Philemon’s slaves, Onesimus, ran away. Years later and nearly a thousand miles away in the city of Rome, Onesimus happened upon Paul, the very man who had led his former master to Christ. After Onesimus also turned to Christ and began growing in the faith, Paul came to regard him as “my son … whom I have begotten while in my chains” (Philem. 10).
But now Paul faced a dilemma. Should he keep Onesimus with him? That’s what Paul wanted to do (v. 13). But by law he was required to send the fugitive slave back to his master or turn him over to authorities. Yet what would happen to this new believer, so cherished by Paul that he called him “my own heart” (v. 12)? Onesimus could be sold, punished, or even killed. Could Paul live with himself, knowing that he had led his friend to bondage and destruction?
The apostle resolved to send Onesimus back to Philemon—but not without protection. He assigned an associate named Tychicus to escort the slave back to Colosse and to transport three documents—letters to the churches in Colosse and Laodicea (Col. 4:16) and a personal message to Philemon.
Paul leaned heavily on his history with Philemon in order to persuade him to act with mercy. He counted on the master to demonstrate spiritual maturity by forgiving the slave and accepting him as a brother in Christ. No doubt Philemon’s standing in the Christian community at Colosse would add further leverage, as people would be closely watching his response.
Paul wrote this letter from prison, likely in Rome (4:18; Philem. 9), where he gained a deep understanding of what it is to yearn for freedom. The letter was probably composed in the late 50s or early 60s A.D.