My house group have been looking at the shorter New Testament letters recently. Although most of them have been Christians and even held significant roles in the church for a long time, none had heard a sermon on Philemon. They wanted to know why this short personal note from Paul was considered important and inspired enough to be included in the canon of scripture.
In contrast, the leading New Testament scholar NT Wright begins his magnum opus on Paul’s theology with a 70 page exposition of the letter, using it as a window onto the some of the essential features of his theology. He read it first when he was beginning to read and decades later said it was still a great place to start.1 Who, why and a slave Philemon is a short and personal note, about the length of many early letters. But it throws up some puzzles that any preacher has to negotiate. We don’t know for sure who Philemon or Apphia are since they are only mentioned here (v1). We know they were wealthy enough to host the church in their house and to have a guest room in which Paul could stay. Because Archippus is mentioned in Colossians 4:17 it is usually assumed they were all significant members of the church at Colossae. There’s no real reason to doubt Philemon and Apphia were married and perhaps Archippus was related (a son?) in some wa
