Sermon Tone Analysis

Background Information

Author

Paul

Date

Between 55-62 AD while Paul is in prison in Ephesus or Rome

Audience

Writing is addressed to Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus

Philemon is the primary recipient

Purpose

Paul wrote Philemon requesting a transformed relationship between him and Onesimus

Genre

Personal letter of request

Letter, Personal — (NT) A letter addressed to a specific individual or household rather than church congregation.

Letter of request.

Within the broad category of letter, Philemon is a letter of request (a genre familiar to us).

There is a surprise element to the form this time: we usually write letters to request something for ourselves, but Paul is writing to request something for someone else.

Of course this, too, is familiar.

An additional dimension is that Paul is attempting something for which there was no social sanction (no precedent, perhaps) for his request; ordinarily a slave master would put a slave back into service.

A leading interpretive question that we need to have in mind as we scrutinize the letter is how Paul believed that the Christian faith shared by all three principals should enter the outcome of the situation.

Theological Truths

Radical redemptive reconciliation

Spiritual equality amongst Christ-followers

Sacrificial mediation

Connection to Colossians

Teaching Notes

Outline

Philemon 1-3 - Greetings

Philemon 1 - Author

Philemon 1-2 - Recipients

Philemon 3 - Grace & Peace

Philemon 1-3 - Greetings

Author & Co-worker

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus,

Paul

Past

Conversion

Present

A Prisoner

1. prisoner — a person who is confined; especially in regard to crimes or as a prisoner of war.

For Christ Jesus

① fulfiller of Israelite expectation of a deliverer, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ

The Israelites were awaiting the “Messiah/Deliverer/Anointed One”

Through the tribe of Judah

Promised through David

Psalms speak of the Messiah

Prophecy concerning the Messiah

And Timothy our brother,

And Timothy

Paul’s 2nd missionary journey

Paul’s 3rd missionary journey

Mentioned in the greetings of a few epistles

Spent time in prison

Our brother,

3. believer ⇔ brother — a male (believer) understood as one’s own sibling in God’s family; sometimes used of any sibling (regardless of gender) in God’s family.

Recipients

To Philemon, our beloved fellow worker

To Philemon,

“Affectionate-one”

Our Beloved fellow worker

Beloved

② pert.

to one who is dearly loved, dear, beloved, prized, valued

Fellow worker

1. fellow worker — a person who participates in the same activity as oneself.

And Apphia our sister

Apphia

Apphia, the name of a Christian, prob.

wife of Philemon, at Colossae, Phlm 2;

Our Sister

ⓐ of a female who shares beliefs of the reference person or of others in a community of faith, sister.

And Archippus our fellow soldier,

Archippus

Our fellow solider

comrade in arms, fellow-soldier, in our lit.

only fig.

• of those who devote themselves to the service of the gospel;

And the church in your house:

The church

ⓑ of Christians in a specific place or area (the term ἐ. apparently became popular among Christians in Greek-speaking areas for chiefly two reasons: to affirm continuity with Israel through use of a term found in Gk. translations of the Hebrew Scriptures, and to allay any suspicion, esp. in political circles, that Christians were a disorderly group).

α. of a specific Christian group assembly, gathering ordinarily involving worship and discussion of matters of concern to the community:

In your house:

Greeting

Grace to you and peace from God our Father

Grace to you (all)

ⓒ In Christian epistolary lit.

fr. the time of Paul χάρις is found w. the sense (divine) favor in fixed formulas at the beginning and end of letters

And peace from God our Father

Peace

② a state of well-being, peace

God our Father

The name “Father” may be predicated of God personally and essentially.

“Father” primarily and most properly signifies the divine person who generates and is therefore in relation to the Son.

To be Father is to beget another who has the same nature.

When predicated personally of God, the name “Father” also designates in a secondary sense the divine person to whom those adopted in Christ are related as children of God.

The paternity of God the Father extends to those who are coheirs in Christ, the Son of God.

And the Lord Jesus Christ.

Theology in Action

Jesus is on the same “level” as God the Father