CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Philemon 1:12. Whom I have sent again.—There were police—the fugitivarii—whose duty it was to track out runaway slaves: love succeeds better.
Philemon 1:13. I would have retained.—“I could have wished I might keep him.” Paul was not a man to take a liberty with a friend. In thy stead.—It was not with Philemon’s consent that Onesimus was in Rome; but if he might be his proxy, St. Paul knew that would be the most likely way to have retained the runaway for himself.
Philemon 1:14. That thy benefit.—Lit. “thy good.” There are spontaneous benefactions, and others that are given reluctantly, but without a tell-tale face.
Philemon 1:15. Perhaps he therefore departed.—He does not say, “For this cause he fled,” but “For this cause he was parted”; for he would appease Philemon by a more euphemistic phrase (Chrysostom). That thou shouldest receive him for ever.—Not the design of Onesimus, but “there’s a Divinity that shapes our ends.” Paul sees the design in the event which he reckons upon securely.
Philemon 1:16. Not now as a servant.—The apostle utters no syllable of “emancipation,” though we can almost think he is playing round the word.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Philemon 1:12-16
The Christian Teacher and the Slave.
I. The Christian teacher acknowledges the civil rights of the slave-owner.—“Whom I have sent again” (Philemon 1:12). Paul did not propose to keep Onesimus, nor did he ask for his liberation from slavery, unless the words in Philemon 1:21—“Knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say”—may be so construed. Even in these words there is no definite request for the manumission of the slave, but only a delicately expressed hint. Nor did Onesimus object, but seemed eager to go back to the master he had wronged. The time had not then come, as it did come, for the Christian teacher to boldly attack the inhuman system of slavery, which was so deeply and widely interwoven with the social life of that day. The law sanctioned the system: the apostle respected the law.
II. He identifies himself with the condition of the slave, and recognises the value of his services in the gospel.—“Receive him, that is, mine own bowels [my own heart] … he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel” (Philemon 1:12-13). Onesimus had so endeared himself to Paul that he regarded him as a part of himself, and had found his services so helpful that, if he had harboured the thought, he would fain have retained him. He was sure Philemon would have sanctioned such an arrangement; but justice demanded that he should be returned to his master, who could not but receive kindly the slave of whom his friend Paul spoke so highly, and with whom he so thoroughly identified himself. “We are all Christ’s Onesimuses, and He out of His pure love makes Himself one with us and us one with Him.”
III. He hesitates to claim what he believes the slave’s master would have cheerfully rendered (Philemon 1:14).—Paul might have kept Onesimus, and could easily have gained the consent of Philemon to do so; but with that fine delicacy of feeling that always distinguishes the true Christian gentleman, he declined to force an act of kindness which would lose all its grace and value if not spontaneous. “The principle underlying these words is, that where the bond of love is, compulsion takes the sweetness and goodness out of even sweet and good things. Freedom is essential to virtue. That freedom Christianity honours and respects. So in reference to the offer of gospel blessings, men are not forced to accept them, but appealed to, and can turn deaf ears to the pleading voice, ‘Why will ye die?’ For nothing is good but the free turning of the will to goodness, and nothing bad but its aversion therefrom” (Maclaren).
IV. He discerns the Divine purpose in a personal incident of slave life (Philemon 1:15-16).—Onesimus’ escapade, and Philemon’s loss of his services for a time, led to the slave’s conversion, and his return to his master with heightened qualifications for service, and in a new spiritual relationship—“above a slave, a brother beloved.” So God’s purpose of mercy works through all the ways which our follies have made crooked. The history of every conversion is full of suggestive incidents that illustrate the gracious overruling of our waywardness and transgressions.
Lessons.—
1. The minister of the gospel has a special love for his converts.
2. Christianity teaches us to respect the rights of others.
3. The saving power of God is realised in the most unlikely circumstances.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Philemon 1:12-14. Restitution—
I. An undeniable Christian duty (Philemon 1:12).
II. Resists all temptations not to do what is just and right (Philemon 1:13).
III. Does not bargain for conditions (Philemon 1:14).
IV. Leaves the wronged one free to forgive the wrong done and for which restitution is offered.
Philemon 1:15-16. Providence in Individual Life—
I. Works out its plans in the midst of sin and suffering.
II. Accomplishes its purpose in the most unexpected manner and by the unlikeliest methods (Philemon 1:15).
III. Is always beneficent in its aims and results (Philemon 1:15-16).
IV. Exalts the individual into the highest spiritual relationship (Philemon 1:16).
V. Brings loving hearts into closer union with each other (Philemon 1:16).