3 John 1:9-12: Do not Imitate Evil, but Imitate Good
Although John opens his Third Letter with praise for Gaius, the Apostle also has serious business to deal with. He writes: [9] I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. [10] So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, [...]
3 John 1:5-8: Missions For the Sake of the Name
In 3 John 1:5-8, John gets more specific about the way in which Gaius and his children have been walking in the truth: [5] Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, [6] who testified to your love before the church. You will do [...]
3 John 1:1-4: No Greater Joy
In 3 John, “The Elder” John writes another letter of roughly the same size as 2 John, both of which could have been written on a single sheet of papyrus. Although many read 2 John as a related, but independent letter, I really like Lenski’s take on the relationship of 2 John and 3 John: [...]
2 John: In Jesus, Truth Wins Too
Yesterday, we looked at the demands that Love places on her counterpart Truth, according to John’s Second Letter. Ultimate Love and Ultimate Truth is a person whom we call Jesus. Though he is God, he loved his people so much that he submitted to death on a cross for them. In Jesus, Love wins. But [...]
2 John: Loving one another in Truth
At first glance, 2 John might seem to be warmed-over leftovers from 1 John, but appearances are very deceiving in this case. In John’s First Letter, he had addressed three major themes: Regeneration, Truth, and Love. John’s Second Letter is vital to the health of Christ’s Church today not because he ventures into new territory, [...]
Jesus Christ, Stumbling Block to the Jew
So central was this emphasis on the Messiahship of Jesus that within a few years ‘Christ’ (the Greek for Messiah) had ceased to designate Jesus’s function and had come to be a sort of surname. Now all this was peculiarly offensive to the Jew. It was not easy to think of a carpenter-teacher as the [...]
Little children, keep yourselves from idols
The last verse of John’s letter has puzzled commentators for centuries: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” John has written nothing of idols throughout his entire letter–why would he end on this note? Certainly, formal idolatry is not addressed whatsoever at any point in this letter. John nowhere mentions the making of idols, nor sacrificing [...]
Jesus is the true God and eternal life
The third “we have come to know” statement as John closes his First Letter is this: And we have come to know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus [...]
