Demas

“You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. “He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him. (Deuteronomy 23:15)

Jesus says,

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

Philemon is a letter from Paul asking Philemon, a slave’s master, to not only take his slave back, but accept him as a brother in Christ, no longer as a slave.

The end of the letter closes with Paul greeting Philemon with people he calls fellow workers, one of which is Demas.

I do not know the outcome of this letter for Philemon, but I do not find it a coincidence that later in Paul’s last letter before his execution, Demas is said to have deserted Paul, “having loved this present world.”

References

Deuteronomy 23:15 – Do not hand back runaway slaves

Matthew 5:17-19 – Jesus did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets

Philemon v12 – Paul sends back Onesimus

Philemon v16 – no longer as a slave

Philemon v24 – Demas listed as a fellow worker

2 Timothy 4:10 – for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica;

1 Corinthians 15:9 – For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.