²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. ²⁵The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Paul did not see himself as just a prisoner, though he was clearly incarcerated. He framed his situation from a loftier perspective, not as a prisoner in jail by Roman authorities, but as a prisoner “in Christ Jesus,” in the midst of his latest assignment and posting. If you made Paul a slave, he would see himself as “in Christ Jesus” on a mission for Christ in the guise of a slave. Rather than an epithet of shame, it was a badge of glory. He could rejoice with Peter and John, who, after being whipped mercilessly, “went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).

Suffering for Christians is transformed by seeing it through the lens of God’s perspective. Is this not why Jesus taught His disciples to begin their prayer with, “Our Father, who is in heaven”? That is where He is, in heaven. From there, He sees all and knows all. He perceives all of time in one glance. He knows all that was, that is, and that is to come. There is no future event that escapes His active awareness, for the future to Him is as today and yesterday. He is unchanging, and His foreknowledge is perfect. What He knows about the future sets the future as a fixed eventuality. Not only does He know what is to come, but He infuses all that is to come with purpose. While men and Satan may intend things for evil, God intends those same things for good (see Gen. 50:20). So whatever suffering a Christian might experience, whether at the hand of evil people or as a result of the fallen world that is under the influence of the “god of this world” (see 2 Cor. 4:4), God hijacks those things, superimposing His intention on them. So that which is authored by evil becomes transformed by the Author of all that is good.

Thus, Paul and Epaphras are fellow prisoners in Christ Jesus. That is who they are, and they do not shrink back as though their ministries and lives are on hold or have been hampered in any way. Paul does not skip a beat. They send their greetings. Also, they pass along greetings from four others with them, though they are not presently incarcerated. And finally, he closes his request to Philemon with his signature ending, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Imagine Philemon after reading this letter, looking at Onesimus standing before him. How could he say anything other than, “Welcome, brother, to the family of God!”

Lord, help me to have an open and welcoming heart to all believers.