Epistles of John

A study of John's three letters

Sunday, May 16, 2010

3rd John

  • Second shortest book in the New Testament. 2nd John is shortest in terms of verses; 3rd John is the shortest book in terms of size – one line shorter.
  • In his second epistle, John says that truth is worth standing for; in the third epistle, that truth is worth working for.
  • Three men pass before us in this epistle. Two were genuine, one was a phony.

(1) This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to *Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love **in the truth.

  • *Gaius: John calls him “the beloved” ("dear friend" in the NLT) four times (verses 1, 2, 5, 11). His Greek name—as well as the Greek names of Diotrephes and Demetrius mentioned in the letter—suggest that this letter was addressed to a Gentile Christian. He would have been a member in one of the churches of Asia Minor which John had adopted as his own after the death of Paul. Gaius was a very common name in the Roman Empire.

(2) Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

(3) Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth.

  • The missionaries of the early church were itinerants. They went from place to place. Since the local inn was a wretched and dirty place and there were no Hampton Inn's, these traveling teachers were entertained in the homes of believers. Gaius opened his home, for which John congratulates him.
  • One of the requirements for the elders in the church was that they were given to hospitality.
  • Matthew 10:40-41: “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs.
  • 2nd John is a condemnation for giving hospitality to false teachers whereas 3rd John is a commendation for giving hospitality to teachers of the truth.

(4) I could have no greater joy than to hear that *my children are following the truth.

  • *my children: perhaps Gaius was a convert of John’s.

(5) Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you.

  • In 2nd John, the apostle warns against receiving false teachers. In 3rd John, he encourages the believers to receive the true brethren.

(6) They have told *the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God.

  • *The church in view was John's church, probably in Ephesus.

(7) For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.

(8) So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.

(9) I wrote to *the church about this, but **Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us.

  • *the church: Nothing is said as to the locality of "the church" in question. It was elsewhere probably than where Gaius lived. Diotrephes was a prominent man in it, and very possibly Demetrius, mentioned in verse 12, was in it too.
  • **Diotrephes opposed the practice of welcoming the itinerant preachers, and John censors him for it. Diotrephes loved to have recognition, attention, and be the center of attraction. The issue is not of heresy, but of pride. There is no real evidence that Diotrephes was a heretic. Diotrephes is a rare name and means "nourished by Zeus." He was guilty on five charges:
    1. He must occupy the leading place; the most serious problem Diotrephes had was that he put himself first.
    2. He actually refused to receive John.
    3. He made malicious statements against the apostles.
    4. He refused to entertain the missionaries (apparently he wanted to do the teaching).
    5. He excommunicated those who did entertain the missionaries.

(10) When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.

(11) Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

(12) Everyone *speaks highly of **Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.

  • *speaks highly: We all want to be well thought of, but our walk will speak for itself.
  • **Demetrius: His name means belonging to Demeter (the goddess of agriculture), which identifies him as a convert from paganism.
  • Evidently, Demetrius was the bearer of this letter to Gaius, and was probably one of those missionaries who traveled from place to place. Phoebe probably served this function in delivering Romans (Romans 16:1–2) and Tychicus likely hand-carried Ephesians (Ephesians 6:21–22) and Colossians (Colossians 4:7–8).

(13) I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink.

(14) For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.

(15) Peace be with you. Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.

  • We each may well ask ourselves in closing this question — If the Apostle John were amongst us today, would he acknowledge you and me as FRIENDS?

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Bible studies are held in Oakbay subdivision in Noblesville, Indiana. In-person Sunday studies have been eliminated because of COVID-19 concerns. Wednesday studies at 7:00 pm led by Don Terry via Zoom - presently studying the Book of Acts from a dispensationalist viewpoint. Bi-monthly Wednesday’s women’s studies at 7:00 pm led by Carolyn Terry via Zoom - presently studying Paul’s second letter to Timothy - and his last writing. You can see several of our present and past studies but we covered many other subjects before starting this blog. The goal of these studies is to bring each of us to know Christ better (epignosis) and then to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as mentioned by Paul in Philippians 3:14 and to hear Jesus’ “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”. Dedicated to the memory of Don & Carolyn Terry’s daughter, DJ (Dorothy Jean) Terry, who went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1999 at 20 years old.