Philemon Reimagined: The Most Daring Return in the New Testament:

The guard sat up bolt right as the first knock sounded at the gate. He wasn’t sure he heard well or the wind playing a trick 

Then a second knock. This time a bit more assured. Determined.

The first guard caught the eyes of the second one as their eyes asked the same question;

“Who could be knocking at such an ungoldy hour on a harsh winter’ night with the streets slippery with snow and ice?

“Who is there?”. The watchman whispered through the peephole.

Both men had drawn their swords 

“It’s I, Oníṣe” the once-familiar voice curled through the mist

“Oníṣe?”. Which Oníṣe?. The guard enquired as his befuddled brain spat out the word – impossible

“The same Oníṣe. G’adi, open the gate please, I am freezing”

---

Gate opened, both sentries stared at him incomprehensibly. It was truly Oníṣe – gaunt, trembling as snowflakes clung to his eyelashes and hair.

“What are you doing here, do you have a death wish? G’adi grabbed him angrily, looking him over as he simultaneously shoved him into the Sentry post

“Do you want to get us killed alongside you? You know we shouldn’t have opened this gate to you, right?”. The other guard barked even as his anger faded

“I came back”. Oníṣe remarked boldly

“You what!! You cannot come back. You – more than anyone else – understand the gravity of what you did and the penalty when captured. And worse off, you are turning yourself in. The Master has searched for you everywhere without success so you are free to leave”

“I thought I was too but I am not. I owe him and he owns me. I am ready to face the consequences of my action. Inform the Master” Onise muttered as he felt his bravado dissolve

Both men looked askance at him. Protocol demanded that they notify the Householder immediately. However, they were willing to risk their necks for Onise by harbouring him inside the sentry post until dawn. Maybe, he would come to his senses and disappear before the city stirred.

“Wait until the morning. The Master has retired and you know it requires only an emergency to rouse him” G’adi mumbled

“And risk your lives? no, wake him up” Onise pressed on. He understood what G’adi was playing at and he was not willing to allow the men take such a risk

Eventually, he prevailed on them. Hierarchically though, he was still their senior and the guards recognised that.

---

“There is someone here to see you sir” G’adi knelt and covered his face as his Master, Phil answered the door in his nightwear

“The Governor?” Phil growled sarcastically ,”Because I do not see a fire razing down the buildings. Who is it that could not wait till the morrow?

“Onise” G’adi spoke the name with fear. And his Master jerked upright

“Who?”

“Onise, sir”

“Which one?” Phil had shifted gears from drowsy to surprise and angry all at once

“The same one sir. He came back demanding to see you”

“And where is he at?”

“By our post, sir”

Without a word, Phil strode through the corridor, past the courtyard and into the ante-court which opened onto the Sentry post. There, kneeling in the snow with his head bent and arms behind him was his once favourite Aide. The Aide he had brought into his household as a young boy of twelve years and groomed over the past ten years. The one who rejected his kindhearted attempts at treating him like a son. The aide who caused the most trouble in his household. The much-beloved aide who had stolen from him and ran away.

“How dare you come back here after all the trouble you caused! I could chop off your head right now!” Phil bellowed into the night. Few of the senior aides have emerged from their quarters noiselessly and watched the scene. Some, in anticipation, others, with trepidation.

“I know, sir. I throw myself at your mercy.” Onise grovelled as he bent lower

“Mercy? You do not deserve any mercy. Sieze him and lock him up until the morning” Phil ordered some of the older aides

---

“I came with a letter sir. For you. From your father.” Onise dared to breath the sentence

“My father? I have no father and you know that” His master sneered

“He said to give you this and tell you from your father, Paulinus”

“Paulinus? Phil’s eyes widened reverently as he opened the letter which Onise handed him

“Where did you meet him?”

“In prison, sir. We spent the last ten months together”

“You were in prison? where?”

“Rome, sir”

“And how did you get back to Türkiye?

“He paid my voyage, sir”

A sob broke out from Phil as he began to read the letter. Then he strode back swiftly into the house, collapsing into a chair. It was truly from Paulinus – the man who led him to Christ and mentored him when he was new in the faith – his spiritual father.

Paulinus was pleading for Onise’s life. Telling Phil how he had also led Onise to Christ while both of them were imprisoned. How much Onise’s life has changed and how, he has become a member of the larger household of God now. Therefore, the older man was imploring Phil not only to take him back, but treat him as a brother, instead of a runaway slave who deserves to die.

And worse of all, the older man offered to pay off any debts, Onise must have incurred when he stole from his Master and ran away.

Phil tried to rein in his emotions as he read the missive. It truly was Paulinus – Phil recognised his sprawling cursive – which spoke of his past as a learned member of the Supreme Court. Those who did not know the former Paulinus, constantly found it shocking when they learnt he had been a high member of the Sanhendrin. How did such a man of status become this frail prisoner who is moved from one prison to another?

Gathering himself, Phil marched back to the outer court and as everyone watched with bated breath, he pulled Onise up into an embrace and muttered;

“Brother. Welcome home”

Adapted from the book of Philemon.