sermonette: The Behavior of Onesiphorus

Jared M. Ellis
Given 18-Oct-25; Sermon #1842s; 15 minutes

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In my studies, I found that the Bible is filled with a vast number of peculiar characters. Lately, something I've found to be incredibly interesting is investigating these obscure characters who are only mentioned a couple of times or sometimes maybe even just once. The most interesting part to me is trying to understand why God decided these people needed to be mentioned at all. Take someone like Shamgar, who's only mentioned in one verse in Judges 3 and verse 31, and all it essentially says is there was Shamgar who killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad, and then the next verse just jumps into something completely different, never mentioning him again. Like, can I get some backstory on that? But anyway, I bring this up to show you that there are people in the Bible mentioned with very little detail and very little background. However, just because the Bible doesn't give much detail about them, doesn't mean that there aren't important lessons that we can learn from them. Today we are going to look at one of these people. This individual is only referred to in scriptures twice, but I think the few verses where he is mentioned holds some powerful lessons that we as Christians in the modern day church ought to pay attention to. Please turn with me to II Timothy 1 in verse 15. II Timothy 1 and verse 15. We're first going to look at some side characters before we see our prime subject. Now keep in mind this was an especially scary time to be a Christian. One of the most cruel emperors in Rome, Nero, was at the height of his power and deepened persecution of the 1st century church. Because of this, Paul found himself writing this letter to Timothy in a Roman prison. Let's break into the middle of one of Paul's thoughts in verse 15 here. This, you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phyllis and homogenes. We're presented with two people and what Paul has to say about them is not very good. He starts this part of the letter with information that probably was not news to Timothy. I'm sure Timothy had heard that all those in Asia had turned away from Paul. But after this statement, Paul name drops two individuals who walked away from him, Phijeus and Homogenes. This is the only time these two are ever mentioned in the Bible, and Paul doesn't even tell us why they turned away from him. And even in my research of Jewish and early church traditions, I could not find anything substantial about these two people, and I even asked Chat GPT about it. Phyllus and homogenes remain shadowy figures. Now, in verse 16, we meet our prime subject. Let's go ahead and read it. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onahoris, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. The introduction Paul gives to Onesahous is absolutely glowing. He starts by asking God to grant mercy and or to him and his household. Then he tells us why, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. Now I find the use of the word refreshed here to be especially intriguing. The Greek word Paul uses is annaupto. This is the only time this word appears in the entire Bible. But the literal translation of this word means to cool off or to have a recovery breath or to refresh one's spirit. Before this, in verse 14, Paul was admonishing Timothy to quote, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us. In Scripture, the Holy Spirit is often described metaphorically as a breath or a life-giving breath. So I find it fascinating that right after mentioning the Holy Spirit, Paul uses a word that is not used anywhere else in the Bible, which means a recovery breath or a cooling off. Brethren, in the same way that the Holy Spirit is a breath of life to us, Paul describes some one, Onahoris, as being a breath of recovery. This really struck me. When I'm dealing with the people in my life, am I a source of recovery for them? Am I someone who lifts up those around me? Paul was definitely in a place where his spirit could have been crushed. Being in a Roman prison, especially at the height of the persecution against the church, would have been incredibly crushing to one's spirit. But God did not allow Paul's spirit to be crushed, because not only did Paul have God's Holy Spirit, but God also sent him someone, a person who became a recovery breath for him. A deep inhale and exhale when he needed it most. Again, I ask, are we that for each other? When life is crazy and the world is in chaos, are we a breath of recovery for those around us? It's important, brethren, especially now when we wait for the next holy day cycle to become an ever-present aid for one another. To put it into Paul's words, we need to be an Anasuto to each other. Now, let's go ahead and reread verse 16 and pick up the second characteristic Paul reveals about Onsahous. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Oneahous, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. When Paul says that Onahous was not ashamed of his chain, it's important to remember that Paul was or was not in prison because he had done anything wrong, but he was in prison because he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. The hot thing to do in Roman politics at the time was to persecute Christians. I recently read a book called SBQR by author Mary Beard. This book gives a synopsis of each Roman emperor, and in her book she describes a great fire that tore through Rome in 64 AD, which devastated a large portion of the city. How the fire started is a mystery, but there were substantial rumors that Nero himself had set the fire so he could rebuild the city to his liking. Because these rumors became so widespread, Nero issued an official declaration blaming the fire on this fairly new religious group called Christians. The Great Fire occurred in 64 AD and scholars estimate that Paul's second imprisonment was between 64 AD and 67 AD. This coincides with Paul's 2nd arrest in which he writes this letter to Timothy. At this point, being a Christian or even associating with Christians was extremely dangerous. And yet Paul tells us about the awesome attitude that Onahous had. Onahoris was not ashamed to be seen or associated with Paul, and quite frankly, he was putting himself and his household at great risk associating with someone in prison, especially someone who might have been blamed for arson. The main point I want to bring out is that Onesa Forests did not just sit with Paul during the easy times. He did not flinch when the flames got hot, no pun intended. The loyalty that Onesahore showed to Paul is one we need to take to heart. No matter what we are going through as family members in the faith, we have to stick by each other in times of peace and prosperity, and in times when persecution comes. We're absolutely blessed to live in an age where we do not have someone like Nero in power, but that's not outside the realm of possibility in the future. How important is it that we remember the incredible actions of Osa for us? Love and loyalty to each other, no matter how shameful the chains that shackle us are. Now, let's look at verse 17. But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. Something to note that seriously puts this verse into perspective is the fact that Onesahous was not from Rome. He was from Ephesus. That means this journey he made to get to Paul spanned over 1500 miles. Through my research, the most plausible route that he likely took was incredibly grueling. This route had Oneaphora sailing 1000 miles across the Aegean and Adriatic Sea, and then walking 500 miles from southeast Italy all the way to Rome. This trip, at the very least, and I'm going to say that at the very least, would have taken him 6 weeks to complete. Not only was the journey itself dangerous, but we need to remember who was in power at the time. Nero was having Christians executed for merely professing Christ as their savior. A man arriving from Asia Minor and asking about a condemned Christian leader probably attracted some suspicion. The bottom line is that Onsahoris risked harassment, persecution, arrest, and the death penalty, all to find Paul. This brings me to the second part of the verse. He sought me out very zealously and found me. Locating Paul was also not an easy task. This was not like Paul's first arrest in which he was put under house arrest. Onesa Forests did not have an address he could just waltz up to. Paul was most likely in a big city prison, possibly the famous Mamertine prison in Rome. The Mamerine prison was cramped, underground, dark, damp, and made Alcatraz look like the Ritz-Carlton. Onshores would have had to completely start from scratch with zero information on Paul's whereabouts. He had to figure out what district Paul was in, what prison he was in, and what specific cell he was in. Moreover, he would have needed to find the safest routes to travel and the right time when the guards would actually allow visitors. And to cap it all off, all this effort could have been in vain if they had decided to transfer Paul to another prison or execute him before Oneahoris got there. When Paul mentions the zeal of Onesahorus, this is what he's talking about. He diligently, courageously, and zealously sought out Paul, so that Paul would know that he was not alone and someone was there for him. Not only did Onahous zealously seek Paul, but he found him. I can't imagine the emotions that Paul felt when the light shined through the iron bars and he looked up and saw Onesa for us. And I can't imagine the relief that Onahous must have felt, seeing that Paul was still alive, and that his zealous searching had resulted in a reunion with his brother and the faith. Do we seek each other? When we see a family member in the church in crisis, do we search them out with zeal? Notice that Onahous was not trying to solve the problem for Paul. He was not diligently seeking him to break him out of prison or to find a way to get him released. He sought him out to minister to him, to help him, and to be there for him. Sometimes our brothers and sisters are going to go through trials that we can't fix or solve. But what we can do is be there for them, encourage them and help them. My manly instincts whenever I see someone going through a hard time, is to try my best to solve whatever problem they are facing. And sometimes arrogantly, I think I can solve every problem that I see people going through. But not every problem I encounter is one I'm even half capable of solving. But what can be done is providing a loving, outstretched arm to be present for them, even if it's just a phone call or text. Brethren, there is not much in the Bible about Oneahorus. There are really no details about him as a person or anything that he actually said, and I used to wonder why Paul never gave any details about Onesahoris as a person, but then I realized he did. Behavior is a language. Paul never wrote anything that Onahous said. He only mentions what Onahous did. We tell each other things by our behavior and how we act. Paul doesn't give many details about Pyalus and homogenes other than that they turned away from him, but the details were not important. Their behavior was a language. By turning their backs on Paul, they were saying that they did not care about him. They did not want to risk their lives to be there to help him, and if he was executed because of his beliefs, we better him than me. The only thing they are remembered for is their stark disloyalty to Paul. But Paul gives us the beautiful contrast literally in the scripture right after by telling us about the behavior of a true Christian. Details aren't needed about Onesahori because his behavior and his actions speak for themselves. Brethren, our behavior is also a language, and I think it's important to ask ourselves every single day, what are we telling others through our actions? Are we telling them what Onesahoris told Paul, or are we telling them what Phyalus and Homogenes told Paul? Let's conclude by reading verses 15 through 18, but this time I took a page from Doctor Moss's book and I'm going to read it from the Amplified Bible. Verse 15. You are aware of the fact that all who are in the providence of Asia turned away and deserted me. Phyjeus and homogenes among them. The Lord grant mercy to the family of Oneahori because he often refreshed me and shown me kindness, comforting and reviving me like fresh air, and was not ashamed of my chains for Christ's sake. But instead, when he reached Rome, he zealously searched for me and found me. The Lord grants to him that he may find mercy from the Lord on that great day. You know very well how many things he did for me and what a help he was at Ephesus. You know better than I can tell you. Onesa Forests did not make this journey to Paul on a limb. He had an established pattern of behavior. He had been ministering to Paul and refreshing him long before he came to him in Rome. I hope and I pray that all of us establish that same pattern of behavior and that we too may be granted the mercy that Onesaphores is.