Parallel 3YHN Intro

The Third Letter of John

Purpose

To commend Gaius for his hospitality to the apostle’s emissaries and to reprove Diotrephes

Author

Likely the apostle John

Date

Around AD 85–90

Setting

Written to an individual named Gaius, in response to his hospitality and to the lack thereof by a man named Diotrephes

This small personal letter provides a window into some issues of leadership and conflict in the early churches. A man named Diotrephes was improperly controlling the church and rejecting the apostle and his emissaries. By contrast, Gaius and Demetrius were two men who remained faithful to the church and to the apostle John.

Setting

The apostle John wrote this letter in the same time period as 1 John and 2 John (see 1 John Book Introduction, “Setting”). Some teachers and leaders, claiming to be spiritual, taught a different doctrine about Christ and did not make the same disciplinary demands upon the members of their churches. They assumed their own authority and refused the authority of John. They also perverted the teaching of the apostles. Diotrephes was one of those who had broken away from the apostolic fellowship (cp. 1 Jn 2:18-19). As a leader in one of the local churches, he rejected John’s authority and refused to accept the teachers John sent to the church. He even excommunicated those in the church who did receive them and provide them with hospitality.

Knowing the situation, John wrote this letter to Gaius, a faithful member of that church, encouraging him to continue welcoming and hosting John’s emissaries and to remain faithful to John’s teaching and fellowship.

Summary

Of all the New Testament letters, 3 John is most typical of personal letters in first-century Greece and Rome. As with other letters of this era, 3 John begins (1:1-4) with an identification of the writer (“the elder”) and the recipient (“Gaius”), followed by a wish for the recipient’s welfare.

In the body of this letter (1:5-12), John commends Gaius and reproves Diotrephes. Gaius acted commendably in welcoming the traveling teachers, and they had in turn reported to John that Gaius was living according to the truth. This gave John great joy, and he encourages Gaius to continue demonstrating this kind of hospitality.

In contrast to Gaius, a church leader named Diotrephes earned the apostle’s censure (1:9-10). Diotrephes’ love for prestigious leadership caused him to rebuff John’s authority and to persuade others to do the same. Diotrephes even excommunicated those who didn’t follow his own leadership. Gaius is warned not to submit to the aggressive leadership of Diotrephes or be influenced by his bad example.

John then highlights the good reputation of a man named Demetrius (1:12). John’s purpose in doing so is not clear to us today, but it’s possible that he was offering Gaius an alternative to Diotrephes to assume leadership in that community.

John closes the letter by mentioning plans for a future visit and offering greetings (1:13-15).

Author and Date

The author of this epistle calls himself simply “the elder” (see 1:1), perhaps reflecting his age, or perhaps conveying his authority with respect to his readers. Church tradition has identified this elder as John the apostle, an elderly man and an elder of the churches in Asia Minor during the last decades of the first century (see 1 John Book Introduction, “Author”). Third John was probably written during the same period as 1 John and 2 John, around AD 85–90.

Meaning and Message

John’s third letter is concerned with a problem introduced in 1 John: Some church leaders followed false teaching and ignored the authority of the apostles.

We cannot claim to love God and the truth if we don’t follow apostolic teaching and if we don’t join in fellowship with God’s church, the members of his family.