Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argument
Philemon, not a Jew, but a Gentile, was a citizen of Colossae, noble among his own, conspicuous in life and morals as well as in faith and Christian profession; whose house at Colossae remained intact down to his time, as Theodoret here relates: inasmuch as in the time of Paul it began to be a church, so that Paul held in it the gatherings of the faithful, and therefore Archippus, the Bishop of the Colossians, dwelt in it, as Paul sufficiently intimates in verse 2. Hence this house, now dedicated to God as a church, remained for many ages. Again, the faithful, accustomed to gather in the house of Philemon, were sustained by his aid: for he himself was given to almsgiving, and succored the necessities of the Saints. For this is what the Apostle says in verse 7: "The bowels of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother." This Philemon then had a slave named Onesimus, who not so much from zeal for St. Paul, as some maintain, as on account of theft, having indeed pilfered certain things of his master, as St. Jerome, Theodoret, and Theophylact gather from verse 18, had fled from Colossae to Rome, where he encountered Paul, who converted him to Christ, instructed him and baptized him, and now, having become faithful both to Christ and to his master, sends him back with this commendatory epistle to his master, namely Philemon, by which he asks him to receive him back into favor. Paul wrote this Epistle at Rome from his earlier chains in the year of Christ 60, when he already hoped to be soon freed from them, as is clear from verse 22; he sent the same with the Epistle to the Colossians, through Onesimus himself.
St. Chrysostom and Theophylact note that this Epistle, in such brevity and simplicity, contains many very useful lessons. Among which the first is, that to no man, not even to a fugitive slave, is the access to grace and eternal life closed off, nor is the salvation of anyone, however hard, fraudulent, and lost, to be despaired of: for such was Onesimus, being a slave, a thief, a Phrygian. For the Phrygians were of an illiberal and servile disposition. Whence among them there was a great supply of slaves, so that it became a proverb, according to Cicero, oration for Flaccus, that a Phrygian becomes better with blows.
The second is, that Christians should also have care of base men, slaves, and fugitives.
The third, that under the pretext of piety, slaves are not to be torn away from their masters. Whence here Paul sends back the slave Onesimus to his master Philemon.
The fourth, that slaves outstanding in virtue are not to be despised, but loved and promoted. For this Onesimus, repenting of the deed, returned into favor with his master Philemon, and became a distinguished man and teacher, and after Timothy was made the second Bishop of Ephesus: whom St. Ignatius greatly praises in his epistle to the Ephesians. Hence also this same Onesimus afterwards at Rome under Trajan was consummated and laureled with martyrdom.
Learn here, Christians, learn, Pastors, not to neglect the poor, slaves, and maidservants, but to bestow singular care upon them: for they are your sheep, and they have souls as noble as the rich, and redeemed at the same price of the blood of Christ. Whence God will require them again from you on the day of judgment. For on account of them Christ descended from heaven, whose praise this is, foretold and celebrated by Isaiah: "The poor have the Gospel preached to them." Such ones God chooses: for they themselves are more humble, docile, pliable, and therefore more capable of grace and salvation than the rich. "Has not God," says St. James, chapter II, 5, "chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to those who love Him?"