"Philemon" is the fifty-seventh book of the "Holy Bible." It was written and was stated to be written by the hand of Paul. Once again, I love that he signs his stuff.
Paul has written many of these letters from a prison cell. I had suspected this, but now I know it for certain. I had not fully understood what he meant when he would call himself a "prisoner of Jesus Christ." I thought it was some sort of poetic explanation at first, but he means that he has been persecuted and placed in prison for his following of Jesus. I got it now. Sorry for being so silly.
This whole book is a whopping 2 minute read. It's plot was also filled with assumed knowledge which I didn't have. I went through the whole thing very confused, so I had to check into what happened elsewhere. I haven't really done that since the Old Testament books.
The man (Philemon) who this letter is written to is a slave owner. One of his slaves, named Onesimus, ran away from him and managed to make it into Paul's cell somehow. Here, he was told the story of Jesus and became a Christian as well as a good friend of Paul himself. The letter, quite simply, is pleading for Philemon to forgive his slave. That's all.
Without the context, this book is difficult to understand. Now that you know what happened, I recommend sitting down for 2 minutes and looking "Philemon" over. It's only a single short chapter. Enjoy.
This blog was written on March 1, 2022.
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On that note: If the master refuses to forgive his slave, the master shall find himself the slave not to be forgiven. Jesus does punish people by making them the victims of their own sins. He also blesses people by showing them their own mercy.
ReplyDeleteWe all have masters in some way, and we can all be mistreated by them. It's all about being in a position of power. Forgiveness is always the best course of action.
DeleteI love that Paul pleads for the master to show compassion to the slave. Compassion is The way, to deny the slave this would be the doom of the master.
ReplyDeleteThe Way can be applied to any situation, even uncomfortable ones like this.
DeleteThe personal touch makes all the difference. Paul wrote directly to Philemon, asking for him to forgive his slave. How can those who do not forgive expect to be forgiven?
ReplyDeleteYeah, those who cannot forgive have no right to expect the same treatment. We're all humans at the end of the day, master or slave.
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