Skip to main content

Faithfulness Known By God - 2 & 3 John

 The Weekend, November 28 –

We come to another weekend where we read once over the two-day weekend.  Having just finished John’s first letter we’re going to read both 2nd and 3rd John in one reading.  They are short letters and have a certain harmony to them.  Please read the scriptures first and then come back to here for more.


These two letters give us insight into first-century conventional correspondence.  They were probably written at the same time John wrote his first letter to the churches, and in all likelihood, they were carried and delivered to these two places during this time.  If this is the late first century, the Gospel had taken root in all places within the Roman Empire, but it was still a small group.  Most of the churches that existed – if not all – were “house churches”, i.e., small groups of Christians met in houses, away from Roman observation.  Also, the language – as we will soon see in the book of Revelation – was often veiled behind language that only the Christians understood.

“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth,  because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:  Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love” (1:1-3).

In all likelihood the elect lady and her children are members of a house church.  Perhaps a wealthy patron who was a woman hosted the church’s meetings.  His greeting is similar to the language of 1st John.  In 2nd John 4 -7, he reminds them of what he wrote in the first letter – that the mark of a genuine Christian was their love and their obedience to God’s word.  Then in 2nd John 7 – 11, he warns of the growing threat of Gnostic teaching that was beginning to infiltrate the church.  As you recall, the Gnostics taught a false Jesus, saying that Jesus was not really human, and John called them “deceivers…who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh”. John’s warning comes with a strict command not to receive those who come speaking this false teaching, nor let them influence the members of the church – these false teachers are “anti-Christs”.

The urgency of both the truth and the false teaching was enough for John to have written to them (vs. 12), and a promise that he would one day see them face to face.  The last verse has a similar hidden and known by Christians only meaning - “The children of your elect sister greet you” (1:13).

Following immediately after the 2nd letter comes another letter – 3rd John.  This is the shortest letter in the New Testament, and it is written to a personal friend, Gaius.  He is a friend, and most likely an elder who leads the church in his house, and has been a faithful servant of the Gospel.

“The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.  Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.  For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (1:1-4).

After blessing him, and referencing his health, John demonstrates care for this aged friend. The thrust of the rest of John’s letter is two-fold.  First, he commends Gaius for his and the church’s hospitality for the missionaries who traveled the Empire to preach the Gospel and establish churches (1:5-8).  There were very few places for travelers to stay as they walked through the Empire, and the cities were largely filled with brothels.  This was a time of extending the church out into all the corners of the Empire, and these pioneers of the faith were unknown saints who sought to carry out the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).  Gaius was known as one who cared for these pioneers and gave them hospitality, even to the point of financial support.

However, not everyone was as charitable as Gaius.  A certain man named Diotrephes opposed the hospitality, and John as an Apostle, and his letter that accompanied this letter to Gaius.  John knew that he was acting in a manner that was inconsistent with the command to love the brethren and to care for the Gospel, and he called him out!

“I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.  So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.  Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God” (1:9-11).

Every church has those people who feel their self-importance should dictate the way the church does everything, and unfortunately, they sometimes bully their way into leadership. Simply put, they need to be seen as hypocritical frauds!  If the church is not a place of love, mutual respect, and submission to each other, even in the case of those in authority, it will never prosper.  I’ve seen it all too often and in talking to other Pastors know the heartbreak that can occur with those who are “thorns” in the flesh.  The words of 1:11 are worth writing on the church’s board room walls.  Evil only produces evil and truth, and the testimony of who we are is known by everyone outside of the room.

In contrast to the bully, John commends the faith and faithfulness of a friend, Demetrius.  Quite possibly Demetrius was the man who came to inform John of what was happening in the church, and the one who carried John’s letter back to Gaius, and the church.  One can only wonder what Diotrephes was feeling when the letter was read!   Again, John closes with a promise to come “face to face” to see them, and the blessings of his peace, and his personal greetings even from his church to them.

2nd and 3rd John are very short, but give us a window into correspondence, and the conditions of the first-century church.  Churches were small, with minimalist conditions.  Often meeting in houses away from the eyes of the Roman officials, they nevertheless were busy in spreading the Gospel.  There were tensions from false teachers, prideful leaders, and those who abandoned the churches when the pressure was turned up.  Nevertheless, Churches also had Gaius’ and Demetrius’ that loved and led the churches faithfully, maintaining the truth of the Gospel against false teaching, and quietly, humbly, loving the saints.  The light of the Gospel shines bright in every person who has this faithful Christ-like walk. 

As I write this, one of my closest friends in life, Milo Bishop, has gone home to be with Christ.  Milo was a Gaius, a Demetrius, a friend and a brother in Christ who loved well.  He was a friend who loved me, even as I loved him. We went to Seminary together and a bond of friendship formed in every area of life.  We fellowshipped and worshipped together.  We discussed theology and he got me through learning Hebrew.  Milo and his wife Karen opened their home to us in so many ways – in sickness, after the birth of our first child, Sunday dinners, and football!  After we graduated we moved to different areas of the country.  We saw each other seldom, but when we did, we’d pick up our conversations as if we had just finished talking yesterday. 

Milo loved Jesus, loved the Gospel, and demonstrated to me in Seminary that the truth of the Gospel could be held in true faith, while love and respect for all could be shown.  There’s a hole in my heart today, and yet a love that God brought this man into my life, for which I will forever be grateful. 

I dedicate this devotional passage reading today to Milo Bishop, my Gaius, my brother in Christ who I will see someday – in Jesus’ name.

Peace

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad