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Introduction
to the Third Epistle of John
I.
Writer
Both the Second Epistle of John and the Third
Epistle of John are short
but they have many expressions in common: 1) both of
them mention “the elder” who writes the epistle (see v.1; 2John v.1); 2) both
of them mention the recipient is “the one whom I love in truth” (see v.1; 2John
v.1); 3) both of them express that the writer has no greater joy than to hear
that the recipient walks in truth (see v.4; 2John v.4); 4) both of them mention
there are many things to write in the end but that writer does not wish to
write with pen and ink but hopes to see the recipient shortly and speaks face
to face to face (see v.13-14; 2John v.12).
Therefore
the two epistles are written by the same
one. Most Bible scholars agree that this epistle and the Second Epistle of John
were written by the apostle John.
As for the details of the apostle John
please read
the Introduction to the First Epistle of John.
II.
The Time and Location the Epistle was Written
The time and
location the epistle was written were probably the same with that of the Second
Epistle of John
about 90-99 AD
in
III.
The Recipients
The recipient of
this epistle was called “Gaius” (v.1). We can know from this epistle: 1) he was
a beloved brother the apostle John knew in truth (v.1 the original); 2) his
health condition might not be well (v.2); 3) his soul prospered (v.2) and he
was full of love to others (v.6); 4) the truth abode in him and he walked in truth
(v.3); 5) he often received the brethren who went forth to work for the sake of
truth (v.5) and was testified by many brothers before the church (v.6).
“Gaius”
a common
name at that time in Roman Empire
there were still another three men named
“Gaius” in the News Testament: 1) the man of Macedonia
Gaius (Acts 19:29); 2)
Gaius of Derbe (Acts 20:4); 3) the Corinthian
Gaius
who had ever received the
apostle Paul. Probably
the church in
According to a
godfather’s Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians
a Gaius of Derbe
had ever been mentioned
who was once the fruit of Paul’s preaching the gospel
(see Acts 14:20-21). When Paul died
Gaius had become the spiritual child of
the apostle John (see 3John v.4). After the Third Epistle of John was
completed
the apostle John went to the place where Gaius lived at that time to
deal with the problem of Diotrephes. John dismissed his ministry and made Gaius
replace him.
IV.
The Motivation for Writing this Epistle
In the early church time
the apostles and free
preachers were sent by the Spirit and the church to go forth to preach the
gospel and build new churches. Besides
they chose elders in the churches they
had built to oversee the shepherding works and government of the local churches
and keep the fellowship among all the churches (see v.10-11). Soon
the
churches were faced with two kinds of crises: one is the external heretical
false teachers (see Acts 20:29; 1John 2:18-19; 2John v.7-11)
and the other is
that the ambitious leaders arose inside the churches (see Acts 20:30; 3John
v.9). Both crises caused grievous problems in the early churches.
In order to deal with the problems caused by the
heretical false teachers
the church had to refuse to receive them and close
the door of the church to them. However
if the door of the church was
completely closed
there would be another problem
namely
connivance at the
leaders in the church; therefore
whether the door of the church shall be
opened or closed should be held precisely. The Third Epistle of John gives more
details about “not receiving” in the Second Epistle of John ---- all believers
with right and just motivations shall be “received” (note: to receive them does
not mean letting them preach).
Some Bible expositors infer the motivations of
writing this epistle according to this epistle as follows. They are just for
reference. Before this epistle
the apostle John had ever written a short
epistle to the local church
but Diotrephes rejected the epistle (v.9).
Diotrephes was not a heretic but “loved to have the preeminence” without
obedience to the authority of John. Therefore
John had not taken drastic
measures
but tolerated him and “would call to mind his deeds which he did”
(v.10) when they saw face to face. Diotrephes prated against the apostle and
his fellow-workers “with malicious words” and forbade the local believers to
receive the fellow-workers of John and put those who did not hear him out of
the church (v.10). The apostle John had to deal with this problem to write this
epistle
so he wrote this epistle and asked Demetrius who had a good testimony
to send this epistle (v.12) to Gaius who was zealous in receiving believers
(v.5-6). Probably
Gaius was another leading brother in the local church
so he
had not been cast away of the church. The apostle John may intend to hold on
some believers in the church lest the whole church should uphold Diotrephes
overwhelmingly. And then he went forth personally to deal with the problems
(v.13-14).
V.
The Importance of this Book
This epistle provides precious materials for us to
know the three kinds of potential dangers among the church ministries: 1) the
ministry of apostles ---- which is represented by the apostle John; 2) the
ministry of local church ministers ---- which is represented by Gaius and
Diotrephes; 3) the ministry of those who visit the churches ---- which is
represented by Demetrius;
This epistle speaks in a matter – of – fact voice
without many truth principles
but the spiritual wisdom because of the mature
life is manifested between the lines that we will see the common difficulties
in the churches throughout the generations and know the ways of dealing with
these problems. The difficulty of the churches in the past generations is the
misuse of spiritual authority (e.g. Diotrephes)
and the ways of dealing with
the problems are as follows: 1) he who holds the higher authority (e.g. the
apostle John) shall use the authority properly; 2) encourage other believers (e.g.
Demetrius) to help those who have misapplied the authority (note that the
apostle John had not asked Gaius to get involved into the contradiction him and
Diotrephes).
VI.
Main Structure and General Description
Encourage believers to do
good and receive those who sojourn to work for the sake of truth in love;
abstain believers from doing evil; those who have authority shall not grab all
the power in the church;
VII.
Special Points
This epistle has the
following characteristics:
1. There are 218 letters in the original of
this epistle
which is the shortest epistle of the whole Scriptures. However
though it is short
there are many precious teachings.
2. This epistle takes three living persons as
examples in order to teach the readers reject evil and do good and keep truth
in love.
3. This epistle tells us that physical
condition is as important as that of soul
so bodily exercise and godliness
shall be both emphasized.
4. This epistle also shows us that we shall
walk in truth ourselves and help those who work in truth in love.
5. This epistle encourages us to imitate the
examples of doing good and warns us not to imitate those who do evil.
VIII.
Its Relations with Other Books in the Scriptures
The theme of the
First Epistle of John is fellowship and mutual love as well as the serious
problems of heretical false teachers at that time in the church. As for how to
have right fellowship with the preachers who preach all places and love one
another
the Second Epistle of John indicates what should be rejected (2John
v.10-11) and this epistle points what shall be received (see v.5-10).
Therefore
this epistle and the Second Epistle of John can be seemed as the
supplement to the First Epistle of John
providing proper principles for the
opening and closing of the door. Here the relative points concerning the Second
Epistle of John and the Third Epistle of John are listed as follows:
1. (The Second Epistle of John) the truth
produces love; (The Third Epistle of John) keeping the truth manifests love.
2. (The Second Epistle of John) love in truth;
(The Third Epistle of John) practice the truth by love.
3. (The Second Epistle of John) refuse to
receive the heretical force teachers according to truth; (The Third Epistle of
John) receive the brothers who go forth to work for the truth.
4. (The Second Epistle of John) he who receives
the heretical false teachers shares in their evil works; (The Third Epistle of
John) he who receives the workers of the Lord becomes fellow workers for the
truth.
5. (The Second Epistle of John) be careful of
the deceivers; (The Third Epistle of John) do not imitate those who resist the
truth.
6. (The Second Epistle of John) expose the
doctrine of the antichrist; (The Third Epistle of John) expose the works of he
who loves to have the preeminence.
IX.
Key Verses
“Beloved
do not
imitate what is evil
but what is good. He who does good is of God
but he who
does evil has not seen God” (v.11);
X.
Key Words
“Truth” (v. 1
3
3
4
8
12);
“Receive” (v. 8
9
10
10
10);
“Testimony” (v.3
6
12
12
12
12);
XI. Outlines of the Book
Examples
A.
Examples of Gaius
who receives brothers in love (v.1-3);
B.
The warning example
of Diotrephes who is unwilling to receive brothers (v.9-11);
C.
The testimony of
Demetrius who does good (v.12);
D.
The concluding
section and greeting (v.13-15);
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Mary Zhou