Some years ago when I was taking New Testament under Reginald Fuller at Virginia Theological Seminary, one of our assignments was to write Philemon’s letter in response to Paul. I enjoyed working on that because not many of our assignments allowed for free-wheeling imagination. As you can probably guess, I assumed Philemon would welcome Onesimus with open arms, as Paul requested.

But put yourself in Onesimus’ place for a moment. How did he feel about being sent back to Philemon? Bear in mind that, as the introduction to this epistle in my bible puts it, he had “emancipated himself”—in other words, he was a runaway slave. We don’t know the details of their past association, but it was common knowledge that, when caught and returned to their masters, runaway slaves could expect severe punishment, maybe even death. That has to figure in Onesimus’ decision to return to Philemon. Fear, anxiety have to be roiling around inside—how will Philemon react when he approaches him with Paul’s letter? He knows he is a changed man since he has converted to Christianity and become “useful” (Onesimus means useful in Greek) to Paul—that he is not the same person who ran away from Philemon. Philemon, however, doesn’t know that. Will he accept Onesimus back into his household—as a slave, as emancipated, as a beloved brother? Is it even possible to imagine that his old master would welcome him as he would welcome Paul? All those things and more have to be running through his mind, and yet he chooses to go, to give up everything—to follow in the footsteps of Christ, to be “useful” for us as an example of willing sacrifice.

Some years later, history tells us there is a Bishop in the early church named Onesimus. Might it have been the same person?