Tom Lowe
3/28/2021
THE BOOK OF PHILEMON COMMENTARY; PART 2
Note: The New King James Bible is used throughout,
except where noted otherwise.
14. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
But without your consent, I wanted to do nothing:
The apostle's final decision was to do nothing without Philemon's consent. Paul made his appeal and made it strong and skillfully. At the same time, he did leave the decision to Philemon. He would appeal in love, but he would not trample over the rights of Philemon. The reason for the decision is at once a very triumph of persuasiveness, which would be ingenious if it were not so spontaneous, and questioned the spirit of Christ's appeal to us for service. "That thy benefit,"-the good done to me by him, which you would in my eyes do-"should not be done out of necessity, but willingly."
That your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary:
This explained why Paul would not force Philemon to make a decision. If Paul demanded it, then Philemon's "good deed" would come by "compulsion" and not be "voluntary." This would make the whole affair unpleasant and rob Philemon of any reward he otherwise might have received. Essentially, Paul gave Philemon the freedom to do what was right in love before the Lord, and he gave him the freedom to do it by his own choice and not out of Paul's "compulsion."
Do not these words go much deeper than this small matter? Did not Paul learn the spirit that suggested them from his own experience of how Christ treated him? The principle underlying them is that where the bond is love, compulsion takes the sweetness and goodness out of even sweet and good things. Freedom is essential to virtue. If a man "could not help it," there is neither praise nor blame due. Christianity honors and respects that freedom.
Regarding the offer of the gospel blessings, men are not forced to accept them but are appealed to and can turn deaf ears to the pleading voice, "WHY WILL YE DIE?" Sorrows and sins and miseries without end continue, and the Gospel is rejected, and lives of wretched godlessness are lived. A dark future pulled down on the rejecters' heads-and all because God knows that these things are better than forcing men into goodness, which indeed would cease to be goodness if they were. For nothing is as good as the free turning of the will to goodness, and nothing is as bad as the dislike of goodness.
The same solemn regard for the freedom of the individual and low estimate of the worth of forced service influence the whole aspect of Christian ethics. Christ wants no men in His army who are forced. There were no conscripts in the ranks. These words might be said to be graven over the gates of the kingdom of heaven, "Not as of necessity, but willingly." In Christian morals, the law becomes love, and love, law. "Must" is not in the Christian vocabulary. Christ takes no offerings which the giver is not glad to render. Money, influence, service, which are not offered by a will moved by love, which loves in its turn, is set in motion by the recognition of the infinite love of Christ in His sacrifice are, in His eyes, nothing. "I delight to do Thy will" is the foundation of all Christian obedience; and the servant had caught the very tone of the Lord's voice when he said, "Without thy mind, I will do nothing, that thy benefit should not be, as it were, of necessity, but willingly."
15. For perhaps he departed[1] for a while for this purpose (reason), that you might receive him forever,
Paul affirms that perhaps the whole unfortunate event of the flight of Onesimus, the slave, was providential, after all. Did not Joseph say to his brothers in Egypt, "God did send me before you to preserve life?" This is why Joseph left Egypt and the same reason that Onesimus was separated from his master ("for this reason he was separated," a soft expression, to denote God's providence.)
The apostle believed that Onesimus would be an asset to Philemon's ministry; that he would be helpful to him during all the remainder of his life as a servant. His ear was, affixed to the door of Philemon's house (which alludes to the Hebrew custom described in Exodus 21:6—"then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; he shall serve him forever.").
Paul's wish for his friend was that he might indeed be a source of eternal delight for his master. In that infinitely better world, where all distinctions between masters and their slaves shall cease, even that world of complete liberty and everlasting friendship." The apostle made the same kind of apology for Onesimus that Joseph made for his brethren (Genesis 45:5) "Now, therefore, be not grieved; for God did send me before you to preserve life." The providence of God often brings good out of evil. Yet we must not for that reason do evil that good may come.
Paul affirms that perhaps the whole unfortunate event of the flight of Onesimus, the slave was providential, after all.
"that you might receive [2] him forever [3],"
The meaning is that Philemon would now have his slave permanently, but there may also be included the thought of all the redeemed of heaven having fellowship with their own in heaven, eternally. In the case at hand, both meanings are appropriate for it is better to take it in the absolute sense of fellowship in the life eternal."
Here Paul is still addressing Onesimus running away from his master, Philemon. It contains a hint that this had happened for a while—for an hour, for a little while. Speaking in human fashion, yet as one believing that God's Providence probably (for we cannot dogmatically define God's hidden purposes in providence) overruled the past evil to ultimately provide a greater good to him. This thought would soften Philemon's indignation at Onesimus' past offense.
16. no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
"no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother,"
"no longer as a slave" The adverb rendered "no longer" means "no more, no further, no longer." It implies that he had been in this condition before-a slave—but was not now; compare Matthew 19:6, "they are no longer two." They were once two, but they are not to be regarded as such now; Matthew 22:46, "Neither durst any man, from that day forth ask him any more questions." They once did it, but now they did not dare to do it; Luke 15:19, "And am no more worthy to be called thy son," though I once was; John 6:66, "And walked no more with him," though they once did; see also John 11:54; John 14:19; John 17:11; Acts 8:39; Galatians 4:7; Ephesians 2:19. This passage then proves that he had been a servant at one time—a slave. But still, it is not sure what kind of a servant he was. The word does not necessarily mean slave, nor can it be proved from this passage, or any other part of the Epistle, that he was at any time a slave; see Ephesians 6:5, "the hardest form of subjection, that of slaves to masters, is dealt with, still under the same idea that both are "in Christ." The slave is the servant of Christ in obeying his master; the master is a fellow-servant with his slave to the same Divine Lord. The word slave denotes a servant of any kind, and it should never be assumed that those to whom it was applied were slaves. Slavery indeed existed in the heathen nations when the Gospel was first preached, and it is doubtless true that many slaves were converted (1 Corinthians 7:21), "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called."--This is a forceful repetition of the principle on which the previous practical instruction is based. "Calling," as used here, must not be regarded in the modern sense of profession or condition in life; it is nowhere used that way in the New Testament but always signifies God's calling of us. (See Romans 11:29; Ephesians 1:18.) Continue to be Christians of the kind that God's call to Christianity made you. If you were circumcised--and so God's call into the Christian Church made you a circumcised Christian--continue so; do not do anything which would seem to imply that some other change in addition to your "call" was necessary to complete your admission to the church. But the mere use of the word does not necessarily prove that he to whom it is applied was a slave. If Onesimus was a slave, there is reason to think that he had a most respectable character, and indeed all that is implied in the use of the term here. All that is said of him would be met by the supposition that he was a voluntary servant and that he had been entrusted with important business by Philemon. It would seem that he was in a condition that made it possible for him to hold property or be entrusted with it.
"but more than a slave—a beloved brother,"—This applies to those serving Christian masters, of course. In Paul's day, it would happen less frequently. Let those Christian slaves who have the good fortune to serve "believing masters" allow no such thoughts as, "Shall I remain my brother's slave?" take root in the breast and poison the life-work. Let them not presume on the common brotherhood of men in Christ, on their being fellow-heirs of heaven, and on this account, they deem their earthly masters their equals, so refuse them the customary respect and attention. Let them remember that, though in heaven there would be no respect of persons, on earth the old class differences were not removed.
Especially to me, I feel a special or particular interest in him and affection for him. This he felt not only on account of the traits of character he had shown since his conversion but also because he had been converted under his ministry when he was a prisoner. A convert made in such circumstances would be particularly dear to one.
"especially to me but how much more to you,"
- Why, it may be asked, would he then be particularly dear to Philemon? For several reasons:
(1) because of the former relationship he sustained to him—a member of his own family, and bound to him by strong ties.
(2 ) because he would receive him as a repenting person and would have joy in his returning from the error of his ways;
(3) because he might expect him to remain with him for a long time, during which he would be a benefit to him as a Christian brother; and,
(4 ) because he had voluntarily returned and thus shown that he felt a strong attachment to his former master.
"both in the flesh and in the Lord."
This phrase is used correctly about any relationship which may exist pertaining to the present world, as differentiated from that which is formed primarily by religion, and which would be expressed by the connected phrase, "in the Lord." It might, in itself, refer to any natural relationship of blood, or any formed in business, or to any constituted by mere friendship, or to a family alliance, or to any relationship having its origin in voluntary or involuntary servitude. It is not necessary to suppose, to meet the full force of the expression, either that Onesimus had been a slave or that he would continue to be regarded as such. Whatever relationship of the kind, referred to above, may have existed between him and Philemon, would be appropriately denoted by this phrase. The new and more exciting relationship they were now to sustain to each other, which was formed by religion, is expressed by the words "in the Lord." In both these, Paul hoped that Onesimus would manifest the appropriate spirit of a Christian and be worthy of his entire confidence.
For Onesimus would now come to Philemon, no longer as a servant, but as more than a servant, as a beloved brother. Just as he then points out, Onesimus is dear to him, Paul. How much more then will he be dear to the one who had owned him and had probably watched him grow up, thus feeling towards him with natural human feelings, as well as with the spiritual feeling that comes from him being a brother in the Lord and both, therefore, having a close bond in knowing the Lord.
17. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
If then you count me as a partner,
When he knows that I possess the honor of being one of your most intimate friends, he knows more about me than my family knows. I said many things to induce him to excuse me, but I feared that some would assume I would end our partnership and dissolve our friendship, that I might have it all for myself. Therefore, to avoid the valid criticism of a more significant fault, I have assumed the role of a self-seeker and have, at the request of my friend, laid aside becoming modesty; which if you can pardon, receive this man into the list of your domestics, for I believe him to be a person of integrity and worth. a companion, and friend, who considers each other's affairs and interest their own: here it may also mean a partner both in grace, and in the ministry; one that shared in the same gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, and one that was to be a partaker of the inheritance with the saints: now if Philemon reckoned the apostle such a one, as he doubtless did, as being engaged in the exact common cause, and a partaker of the same common faith, and interested in the same common salvation; then he entreats him on account of Onesimus, in the following manner,
The word rendered "partner" means "a partaker, a companion." The idea in the term is having something in common with anyone – common principles, standard attachments; a common interest in an enterprise; common hopes. It may be applied to those who hold the same principles of religion and who have the same hope of heaven, the same views of things, etc. Here the meaning is that if Philemon regarded Paul as sharing with him in the principles and hopes of religion, or as a brother in the Gospel so that he would receive him, he ought to receive Onesimus in the same way. He was actuated by the same principles, had the same hopes, and claimed to be accepted as a Christian brother. Paul would interpret his receiving Onesimus as proof that he regarded him as a partaker of the Gospel's hopes and as a companion and friend.
If you consider me a friend and a partner of yours; if I still have the affection of a friend and partner in your heart, receive him as you would myself; for, I love him as I love my soul. Receiving him is the same as receiving me.
18. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.
"But if he has wronged you or owes anything,"
But if he has wronged you, evidently refers to the time of Onesimus' escape. "But if (you are not inclined to "receive" him' because) he has wronged you"; a milder term than "robbed you." Onesimus seems to have confessed some such act to Paul.
Or owes anything, is similarly, in all probability, an allusion to some theft occurring simultaneously, but in a hypothetical form, and denoting an alleged fact.
"put that on my account."
The apostle may be saying something like, "I am ready to make good your loss if required." The latter parts of verses19 and 21 imply that he did not expect that Philemon would demand it. It is strangely out of character with the Apostolic life's whole tone to imagine (as some commentators have done) a regular debtor and creditor account between Philemon and Paul.
19. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.
I, Paul, am writing with my own hand.
Meaning either this short Epistle, so short that he did not use a secretary, but wrote it all himself, and which might be taken as a declaration to do what he promised; or else a bill, a promissory note, written with his hand, which he sent along with Onesimus, by which he laid himself under obligation to give Philemon complete satisfaction in everything, in which he had been injured by his servant; adding,
I will repay it: this was not a tongue-in-cheek expression, nor a piece of vanity from within the apostle; he spoke earnestly, and heartily, and meant what he said; and though his circumstances were often so meager, that he was forced to work with his own hands to provide his necessities; yet such was his interest in the churches, and such their obligation to him, on account of his personal and helpful assistance to them, that he could easily raise the necessary sum of money among them, upon any developing occasion; so that Philemon was an excellent surety and paymaster of the apostle: and this shows his great humility to be a bondsman for a servant, and to make good on the damages and debts brought on scandalously. Suretyship in some cases is lawful, though it ought to be cautiously, and for excellent reasons, entered into. This engagement of the apostle for Onesimus bears some resemblance with and may serve to illustrate the suretyship of Christ for his people. Christ’s people and Onesimus appear to be in much the same condition since he was unprofitable and a runaway servant. Both the people of God (Israel) and Onesimus have become unprofitable. Therefore Christ, along with God the Father, agreed to bring them back again in faith and obedience and set them before Him. By His sufferings and death, they are brought close, which were afar off. Onesimus had wronged his master and was indebted to him. Likewise, the people have injured the law of God, insulted His justice, and incurred His displeasure. They owed more than they can pay and have nothing with which to pay. Christ decided to satisfy law and justice, to make reconciliation for them, and pay all their sin debts. Their sins have been charged to His account and attributed to Him. He has borne them and the punishment that is due them, and so has satisfied God’s law for the people and restored that fellowship they once had. ten thousand talents
Even though I (Paul) do not say to you (Philemon), “you owe me even thine own self besides.” Philemon was the apostle's happy instrument, for he was his spiritual father, and Philemon was his son. According to the common faith, he had been the instrument of saving his soul from death. He had been the means of salvation in the hand of God. All his riches, and the riches of his friends and relations, could never have obtained the redemption of his soul. His soul was owed to the Apostle Paul's ministry, and so his whole self was too; therefore, what favour could he not ask of him? What was it he could or should deny him? He does not insist upon it but suggests that should he forgive the injuries and debts he had taken upon him to make satisfaction for, it would not be equivalent to the debt he owed to him. Hence, it may be observed how greatly obliged regenerated persons are to those who have been the means and instruments of their conversion.
20. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord;
Onesimus disappears, and the final plea will bring pleasure and help to Paul. There is only the faintest gleam of a possible allusion to the former in the use of the verb from which the name Onesimus is derived—“let me have joy from you in the Lord "; as if he had said, "Be an Onesimus, a helpful one to me, as I trust he is going to be to you."
But the apostle does not merely ask for help and refreshing; he desires that they have a genuine Christian nature; in the Lord is very significant. The request for the sake of which the whole letter is written is here put as a kindness to Paul himself, and thus an entirely different motive is appealed to. "Surely, you would be glad to give me pleasure. Then do this thing which I ask of you." It is permissible to accomplish virtuous acts by such a motive, reinforce higher reasons by the desire to please dear ones or win the wise and good approval. It must be rigidly kept as a secondary motive and distinguished from the mere love of applause. Most men have someone whose opinion of their acts is a kind of embodied conscience and whose satisfaction is rewarding enough. But pleasing the dearest and purest among men can never be more than at most a crutch to help lameness or a spur to stimulate.
If, however, this motive is lifted to the highest level, and these words thought of as Paul’s echo of Christ’s appeal to those who love Him, they beautifully express the peculiar blessedness of Christian ethics. The strongest motive, the very mainspring and pulsing heart of Christian duty, is to please Christ. His language to His followers is not, "Do this because it is right," but, "Do this because it pleaseth Me," They have a living Person to gratify, not a mere law of duty to obey. The help which is given to weakness by the hope of winning golden opinions from, or giving pleasure to, those whom men love is transferred in the Christian relationship to Jesus. So the cold thought of duty is warmed, and the weight of obedience to a stony, impersonal law is lightened, and new power is enlisted on the side of goodness, which sways more mightily than all the notions of duty. The Christ Himself makes His appeal to men in the same tender fashion as Paul to Philemon. He will move to holy obedience by the thought - incredible as it is - that it gladdens Him. Many a weak heart has been braced and made capable of heroism, endurance, and effort, and of angel deeds of mercy, all beyond its strength, by that great thought.
The request for the sake of which the whole letter is written is here put as a kindness to Paul himself, and thus an entirely different motive is appealed to. "Surely, you would be glad to give me pleasure. Then do this thing which I ask you." It is permissible to seek to draw virtuous acts by such a motive, reinforce higher reasons by the desire to please dear ones, or win the wise and good approval. It must be rigidly kept as a subsidiary motive and distinguished from the mere love of applause. Most men have someone whose opinion of their acts is a kind of embodied conscience and whose satisfaction is rewarded. But pleasing the dearest and purest among men can never be more than at most a crutch to help lameness or a spur to stimulate.
If this motive is lifted to the higher level, and these words thought of as Paul’s echo of Christ’s appeal to those who love Him, they beautifully express the peculiar blessedness of Christian ethics. The strongest motive, the very mainspring and pulsing heart of Christian duty, is to please Christ. His language to His followers is not, "Do this because it is right," but, "Do this because it pleaseth Me," They have a living Person to gratify, not a mere law of duty to obey. The help which is given to weakness by the hope of winning golden opinions from, or giving pleasure to, those whom men love is transferred in the Christian relation to Jesus. So the cold thought of duty is warmed, and the weight of obedience to a stony, impersonal law is lightened, and new power is enlisted on the side of goodness, which sways more mightily than all the concepts of duty. The Christ Himself makes His appeal to men in the same tender fashion as Paul to Philemon. He will move to holy obedience by the thought - incredible as it is - that it gladdens Him. Many a weak heart has been braced and made capable of heroisms of endurance and effort, and angel deeds of mercy, all beyond its strength, by that great thought, "We labor that, whether present or absent, we may be well-pleasing to Him."
Refresh my heart in the Lord.
"Refresh my heart" points back to v. 7, "the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you” “and lightly suggests that Philemon should do for Paul what he had done for many others. If Philemon obtains his slave for Christ’s sake and in the strength of that communion with Christ which is suitable for all virtue, it is for the good deeds; a deed that is too high and rare a strain of goodness for his unaided nature. Then "in Christ," he will be helpful to the apostle. In that case, the phrase expresses the element or sphere in which the act is done. But it may apply rather, or even also, to Paul, and then it expresses the element or sphere in which he is helped and refreshed. In communion with Jesus, taught and inspired by Him, the apostle is brought to such true and tender sympathy with the runaway that his heart is refreshed, as by a cup of cold water, by the kindness shown to him. Such keen sympathy is as much beyond the reach of nature as Philemon’s kindness would be. Both are "in Christ." Union with Him refines selfishness and makes men quick to feel another’s sorrows and joys as theirs, after the pattern of Him who makes the case of God’s fugitives His own. It makes them easy to be appealed to and ready to forgive. To be in Him is to be sympathetic like Paul and compassionate as He would have Onesimus. "In Christ" carries in it the secret of all sweet civilizations and generosity. It is the spell that calls out fairest charity and is the only victorious antagonist of harshness and selfishness.
21. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
22. But, meanwhile (but at the same time), also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
(21) Having confidence in your obedience.
It is intriguing to notice how, in this conclusion (21-25), Paul seems to glide, as it were insensibly, out of the tone of appealing as to an equal, into the authority of a superior. The word “obedience” is found in 2 Corinthians 7:15; there, it is connected with “fear and trembling.” He preferred to appeal to Philemon’s love; he knew that he could rely on his respect in any case.
I write to you, and I believe that you will comply with my request, therefore, “I have written; to thee” — with great freedom; “for I trust that I shall be granted to you through your prayers.”
Knowing that you will do even more than I say.
This expression can hardly refer to anything except the escape of Onesimus and possibly his being sent back again by the apostle Paul. Precisely in this way, Christianity was to work out the release of the slaves—not by command, but by free and natural reasoning from its forceful declaration of his true brotherhood in Christ.
Philemon will show Onesimus more kindness than I have expressed. Some commentators think the apostle here insinuates to Philemon that it would be proper for him to give Onesimus his freedom. Many believe that he did so.
(22) But, meanwhile also prepare a guest room for me,
It seems he proposed to stay a while in Colosse and wished to have a lodging[5] (house) in some frequented part of the city, where he could conveniently receive “all who might want information concerning his doctrine.”
for I trust that through your prayers, I shall be granted to you.
For “I trust” (hope); “that through your prayers, I shall be granted (given) to you” — I shall be restored to liberty. In Scripture, effectiveness is ascribed to prayer. It is a great encouragement to the people of God to have access to prayer in all their straits, which is agreeable to the appeal and example of Christ and His apostles. But to render effective prayer, as James observes, (James 1:6) be offered in faith; that is, in the full knowledge of the wisdom and power, goodness and faithfulness of God. And there needs to be a confidence in Him that, when we ask with sincerity, earnestness, and insistence, what is according to his will, or what his word authorizes us to ask, he will grant our petitions, as long as it will be for our good and his glory (See 1 John 5:14-15). On this passage, it has been observed that if the apostle believed that the prayers of angels and departed saints were effective for obtaining blessings to God’s people on earth, it is strange that he has not, throughout the whole of his epistles, so much as once addressed any prayers to them, or directed others to do so.
23. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
24. as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
“Epaphras” was a giant in prayer. This Colossian is described in many ways. He was Paul’s “fellow-servant” and “servant,” his “fellow-prisoner,” and a “faithful minister.” He was also Paul’s representative at Colossae, where he had founded the church (Col. 1:7), and sought with Paul’s assistance to combat the heresies rampant there. The apostle had affection for Epaphras, who ministered unto his need and the need of others. It is in his prayer ministry, however, that Epaphras is conspicuous. In prayer, this giant knew how to lay all before the Lord, and laboring in secret, made the saints perfect and complete in their standing through his kneeling. He “struggled earnestly in his prayers” for the Colossians. He wrestled in prayer that they might be faultless in the perfection of Christ and “fully assured in all the will of God.” Paul also testified to the perseverance as well as the prayers of Epaphras. He knew how to toil on behalf of the saints of God. He was practical as well as prayerful.
His prayers for the stability and maturity of others were numerous, continuous, and strenuous. Epaphras brought to Paul at Rome a report of the Colossian Church where he had ministered in Paul’s place, an account that cheered his heart and resulted in the Colossian Epistle's writing. Epaphras took it back with him to his flock. Can we say that we are true successors of the devoted servant of God? Like him, do we know how to wrestle in the agony of prayer? (Rom. 15:30). Epaphras also displayed great zeal or “great labor of anxiety” for those under his care. Too few of us are concerned about the spiritual welfare of others.
Mark
According to William Lane (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with John Mark and John Mark as the cousin of Barnabas. However, Hippolytus of Rome in On the Seventy Apostles distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24). According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples," who were sent out by Jesus to spread the Gospel (Luke 10:1ff.) in Judea.
According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1–4), Herod Agrippa I, in his first year of reign over Judea (A.D. 41), killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the Passover. Peter was saved miraculously by angels and escaped Herod's realm (Acts 12:1–19). Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, as mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1), and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius (A.D. 42; Eusebius, Eccl, Hist. 2.14.6). Somewhere on the way, Peter encountered Mark and took him as a travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down Peter’s sermons, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark (Eccl. Hist. 15–16) before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius (A.D. 43).
According to Acts 15:39, Mark went to Cyprus with Barnabas after the Council of Jerusalem.
According to tradition, in A.D. 49, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark traveled to Alexandria and founded the Church of Alexandria – today, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, and the Coptic Catholic Church trace their origins to this original community. Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself. He became the first bishop of Alexandria, and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa.
According to Eusebius, Mark was succeeded by Anianus as the bishop of Alexandria in Nero’s eighth year (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later, Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.
Modern mainstream Bible scholars argue the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than direct witnesses to the reported events.
Mark
(Means best ruler, a frequent Greek name), a faithful supporter of the Apostle Paul in his labors (A.D. 51-57). He was a native of Thessalonica and became Paul's companion in his third missionary tour, accompanying him to Ephesus, where he was seized and nearly killed in the tumult raised by the silversmiths (Acts 19:29). He left that city with the apostle and accompanied him in his subsequent journeys (Acts 20:4), even when taken as a prisoner to Rome (Acts 27:2).
Aristarchus
Aristarchus was sent to Rome as a prisoner or became such while there (Philemon 1:24), for Paul calls him his "fellow prisoner."
“Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him)” (Colossians 4:10). The Greek Church traditions represent Aristarchus as bishop of Apamea in Phrygia and allege that he continued to accompany Paul after their liberation and was eventually beheaded along with him at Rome in Nero's time. The Roman martyrologies make him bishop of Thessalonica.
Demas or Demos
A man mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament and appears to have been involved for a time in his ministry and was a companion of Paul during his first Roman imprisonment (Col. 4:14; Philem. 24)
Demas [De'mas]—Means POPULAR or RULER OF PEOPLE.
Demas is mentioned in three of the canonical Pauline epistles:
• In Philemon, he is mentioned as a "fellow worker.”
• In Colossians, he is mentioned along with Luke (the physician and writer of the Gospel of Luke and Acts).
• In Second Timothy, a letter traditionally ascribed to Paul, where it is mentioned that "...for Demas because he loved this world, he has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.” This has led to one commentator describing Demas as 'Paul's Judas.” It also seems to indicate that this native of Thessalonica was not fully trusted even when he was near Paul (Phil. 2:20). Scripture has this against him that he forsook Paul for this present world (2 Tim. 4:10). It is incredible how a Comparative Anatomy student can build up a whole unknown structure from one or two known bones. In the same way, we can sketch the character of Demas from the few references to him in the Bible’s portrait gallery.
Before he met Paul, we can picture him as an agreeable young man with no particular vice. The material of his character had no rent in it. It was only sloppy throughout. Under the strong influence of Paul’s personality, Demas was like a piece of soft iron, temporarily magnetized by a magnet's presence. When he became a disciple, he was carried away by the enthusiasm of sacrifice. He wanted to live with Paul and die with him and have a throne and a halo among the martyred saints.
But when Demas came up to the great capital of the then known world in company with the Lord’s prisoners, Paul and Epaphras, it was a different story. He was not a prisoner, and gradually the contrast between the cell and the outer world became intolerable. He saw the Caesars' magnificent halls, the rich' gorgeous homes, and the glitter of a world of music, corruptible loves, jest, and wine. Such a gay world cast its glamor over Demas, and he yielded to its charms. The prison where his friends were languishing seemed wretched alongside the music-haunted, scented, dazzling halls of Rome. Thus Paul had to write one of the most heartbreaking lines in his letters:
“Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” This man of wavering impulse who surrendered the passion of sacrifice and sank in the swirling waters of the world is a true reflection of the thought that where our love is, there we finally are.
He indicates the authorities from which Luke derived his Gospel in the introduction (Luke 1:1-4). He does not claim to have been an eye-witness of our Lord's ministry, or to have any personal knowledge of the facts he records But, as a simple compiler, to have gone to the best sources of information, then accessible, and, having accurately traced the whole course of the apostolic tradition, from the very first, in its every detail to have written an orderly narrative of the facts already fully believed in the Christian Church, and which Theophilus had already learned, not from books, but oral teaching (comp. Acts 18:25; Galatians 6:5).
These sources were partly the "oral tradition" of those "who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word," and partly the written records presented on unexplained grounds (dogmatically assigns a non-Judaean origin) which even then "many" (p????? ) had attempted to draw up, of which, though the Evangelist's words do not necessarily bear that meaning, we may well suppose that he would avail himself. Though we thankfully believe that, in selecting his materials, Luke was acting under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit. It can be said that he lays claim to no such supernatural guidance but simply to the care and accuracy of an honest, thorough, and well-informed editor.
25. The grace[6] of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
The word “Your” is plural. Therefore, "The plural reference is to the whole group included in the salutation. “Spirit” appears to be a term for the whole man in his “new age” outlook." There are many examples of this conclusion of the Pauline letters.
The author of a commentary on Philemon had this comment—"It is fitting that those who have obtained the privilege of handing down the holy doctrine should teach servants to submit themselves to their lords, that through all things Jesus Christ may be praised, to whom with the Father and the most Holy Spirit belong glory and greatness now and always and forever. Amen." The spirit of Apphia and Archippus must be included here because the Epistle was sent to them also and therefore the word is in the plural number, and the Syriac version adds pertinently enough, "my brethren": the salutation was
written from Rome to Philemon, and carried by Onesimus, a servant; that is, it was written by the Apostle Paul when at Rome, and sent to Philemon by the hands of Onesimus, who was his servant.
General Notes
[1] departed— a softening term for "ran away" to mitigate Philemon's wrath.
[2] receive him — Greek, "have him for thyself in full possession" (see Philippians 4:18).
[3] forever — in this life and in that to come (compare Exodus 21:6). Onesimus' time of absence, however long, was but a short "hour" (so Greek) compared with the everlasting devotion henceforth binding him to his master.—
[4] A lodging.—The word often signifies “hospitality” generally, which Philemon might naturally offer in his own house, but St. Paul would not suggest or ask. I request thee also to prepare me a lodging.
[5] In Colosse. “The apostle,” “having experienced the advantage of having a hired house of his own in Rome, where he preached the Gospel to all who came to him, very prudently desired Philemon to provide for him another house in Colosse, and not a lodging in Philemon’s own home, as some suppose.
[6] The grace . . . This form of Paul’s usual blessing is also found in Galatians 6:18; Philippians 4:23; 2Timothy 4:22. We notice by the word “your” that, like the opening salutation, it is addressed to all Philemon’s family and “the church in his house.”
THE MAN WHO FORSOOK HIS FRIEND
This seems to indicate that this native of Thessalonica was not fully trusted even when he was near Paul (Phil. 2:20). Scripture has this against him that he forsook Paul for this present world (2 Tim. 4:10). It is incredible how a Comparative Anatomy student can build up a whole unknown structure from one or two known bones. In the same way, we can sketch the character of Demas from the few references to him in the Bible’s portrait gallery.
Before he met Paul, we can picture him as an agreeable young man with no particular vice. The material of his character had no rent in it. It was only shoddy throughout. Under the strong influence of Paul’s personality, Demas was like a piece of soft iron, temporarily magnetized by a magnet's presence. Becoming a disciple, he was carried away by the enthusiasm of sacrifice. He wanted to live with Paul and die with him and have a throne and a halo among the martyred saints.
But when Demas came up to the great capital of the then known world in company with the Lord’s prisoners, Paul and Epaphras, it was a different story. He was not a prisoner, and gradually the contrast between the cell and the outer world became intolerable. He saw the Caesars' magnificent halls, the rich' gorgeous homes, and the glitter of a world of music, venal loves, jest, and wine. Such a gay world cast its glamor over Demas, and he yielded to its charms. The prison where his friends were languishing seemed wretched alongside the music-haunted, scented, dazzling halls of Rome. Thus Paul had to write one of the most heartbreaking lines in his letters:
“Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” This man of wavering impulse who surrendered the passion of sacrifice and sank in the swirling waters of the world is a true reflection of the thought that where our love is, there we finally are.
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