Cutting Room Floor – What happened to Onesimus?

cuttingroomfloor**Cutting Room Floor – One of the very rewarding aspects of being a Pastor, is getting to study scripture fairly in depth each week. One of the real challenges I face fairly often is learning something that, while interesting, just does not fit with the rest of the sermon. Sometimes it would be too far off point. Other times it may be cut in the interest of time. So, I thought it might be interesting to write up a quick blog post on some of the different things I learned studying for a sermon that were left “on the cutting room floor.”**

What happened to Onesimus?
The book of Philemon is a letter from the Apostle Paul, to Philemon, who is a Christian leader at the time. The letter is a request from Paul on behalf of Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus, asking Philemon to receive him back not as a slave, but as a brother in faith. It is an amazing book of the Bible, really, and an amazing request when you take into account the time in history where this occurred. So what happened to Onesimus? Did Philemon do as he was asked? While we do not have an account of what happened, we do have some clues and church traditions to inform us.

st-onesimus
St. Onesimus

The first thing to consider is that we have the book of Philemon with us at all. This is an important thing. If this letter from Paul to Philemon were received poorly and Onesimus were punished and not received well, then why would the letter have been saved? FF Bruce claims that the letter to Philemon was preserved, not only because it worked, but also because Onesimus treasured it as his charter of liberty. (O’Brien p.268) The very fact that the book of Philemon is in the Biblical Canon seems to suggest rather strongly that Philemon received Onesimus as he was asked to do. Furthermore, there is an interesting church tradition found in some places that suggests that Onesimus went on to become the bishop of Ephesus! Imagine that! Scholar, John Knox, actually argued that Onesimus played a major role in making sure this letter was included with Paul’s letters in scriptures, and that his voice carried weight as a Bishop.
While we cannot be sure whether Onesimus eventually became a bishop or not, it is important to recognize the proclamation of Christ, who sets captives free. It is this faith shaped by the Crucified One that can embrace this story of a runaway slave who is restored, set free, transformed by Christ, and made a leader in the church.

If you missed the sermon on Philemon and Onesimus, you can check it out here.

 

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