Onesimus: Put It on My Account | Bible Stories Retold

He didn't know what was waiting for him there. All he had was a letter." In the city of Colossae lived a man named Philemon. He was wealthy, and a leader in the church that met in his home, and like many wealthy men in the Roman world, he owned slaves. One of them was named Onissimus. His name meant useful. One day, Onissimus ran. The Bible hints he may have taken something on his way out. In the Roman world, a runaway slave could be beaten, branded, or even killed. So he did what people on the run do. He disappeared into the biggest city he could find. And somehow, in that city, he ended up face-to-face with a prisoner named Paul. Paul was in chains waiting for his trial, and Paul told him about Jesus. Onissimus believed Paul called him "my son," whom I have become the father of in my chains. The runaway became family. He served Paul. He took care of him. For the first time in his life, Onissimus was living up to his name. But there was still the matter of Filimin. Onissimus had broken the law, and he had wronged a man. Following Jesus didn't erase that, so Paul made a hard decision. He would send Onissimus back, but not alone, and not empty-handed. Paul wrote a letter to Filimin. He once was useless to you, but now he is useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you. He is my very heart. Receive him no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother. And then, Paul wrote the words that changed everything. Give him as you would receive me, if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything.

Put that on my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it. So Onissimus started the long road home, hundreds of miles, with the letter in his bag. Every step he must have wondered, "Will he forgive me? Will he punish me? Will the door even open?" The Bible doesn't tell us what happened when Filimin read that letter. But Paul wrote, "I know you will do even more than I ask." And about fifty years later, the church in Ephesus had a leader named Onissimus. Some believe it was the same man. Maybe you know what it's like to owe a debt you can't pay. Maybe there's someone you wronged and a door you're afraid to knock on. Here's the good news. Someone has already said, "Put that on my account. Jesus doesn't send you back alone. He goes with you and he vouches for you." [Music]