Third John: Introduction

In verses 1 and 2 we have the salutation or introduction of this epistle.

3 John 1 The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (NIV84)

In verses 3-12, we have the body of this tiny epistle.

In verses 5-8, we have the commendation of Gaius.

3 John 3 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth. (NIV84)

In verses 9-11, we have the condemnation of Diotrephes.

3 John 9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10 So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. (NIV84)

In verse 12, we have the recommendation of Demetrius.

3 John 12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. (NIV84)

Verses 13-15 contain the final greeting of the epistle.

3 John 13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. (NIV84)

Unlike Second John, which is a letter written to a house church in Ephesus, third John was written to an individual.

Like Second John, Third John follows the epistolary form of an ancient letter in the first century A.D.

It is the smallest letter in the New Testament, containing only 219 words in the Greek text.

The epistle centers upon three individuals.

The first was the recipient of the epistle, namely, Gaius.

The second is Diotrephes who rejected the apostle John’s apostolic authority.

The third is Demetrius who John commends in this epistle.

Of the writings of John, three of these are headed as epistles or letters but only 2 and 3 John are strictly to be regarded as letters.

Each is the length of an ordinary private letter, which could be written on a standard-size piece of papyrus (10 in. by 8 in.), and each has the typical form of a letter with a more or less stereotyped introduction and conclusion.

At the beginning of the fourth century, Eusebius classified 2 and 3 John as among the “disputed” epistles of John and during the fifth century, the Peshitta (Syrian translation of Bible) included 1 John but not these two epistles.

However, both of these epistles were employed by the early church fathers who paraphrased, cited or interpreted verses or passages from all of John’s epistles.

Even though 2 and 3 John were not universally accepted as part of the canon early in the church’s history, they eventually were considered as part of the canon of the New Testament.

The author of 3 John is anonymous but there can be no question that the author of the Gospel of John is the author of 1, 2 and 3 John as well and church history supports this.

Furthermore, a comparison of the vocabulary and its usage between the Gospel of John and 1, 2 and 3 John indicates that the apostle John wrote all three epistles (cf. 2 John 5 with 1 John 2:7 and John 13:34-35; 2 John 6 with 1 John 5:3 and John 14:23; 2 John 7 with 1 John 4:2-3; 2 John 12 with 1 John 1:4 and John 15:11).

The language, style, theological concepts and thought world of the writer of 1, 2 and 3 John indicates clearly a close relationship with the Gospel of John, which we know was written by the apostle John.

There are very few scholars who deny that the Epistles of John and the Gospel of John are by the same writer.

John was the first cousin of Jesus (his mother was Salome, a sister of Mary; cf. Mt. 27:56; Mk. 16:1; Jn. 19:25), a fisherman, one of Jesus inner circle (together with James and Peter) and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 13:23).

The recipient of Third John is identified in verse 1 as “Gaius.”

Where he lived is not identified.

However, it is more than likely that he lived in Ephesus which tradition says the apostle John spent his last years on earth.

Akin writes “Tradition is strong that John spent his latter years in the city of Ephesus ministering to the churches of Asia Minor. It would seem reasonable to see the place of writing for the three letters also as Ephesus. Internal evidence would indicate that John was an aged man when he wrote the letters. Church tradition says John was at Ephesus, ‘remaining among them permanently until the time of Trajan.’ Trajan reigned as Roman emperor from a.d. 98–117. This would indicate that John died toward the end of the first century, setting a terminus for his writings. A date of ca. a.d. 85–100 is reasonable.”[1]

Lexham Bible Dictionary writes “There are no features in the letters that would date them positively. However, they are commonly thought to have been composed after the gospel—at the end of the first century AD or in the first decade of the second.”[2]

The “Dictionary of the later New Testament and its developments” writes “The traditional view that the Johannine writings originated from Asia Minor is sound. The heresies addressed in the epistles (and perhaps the Gospel) are well-established in this area. Further, the Fourth Gospel is traditionally associated with Ephesus.”[3]

The purpose of Third John is to deal with Diotrephes’ rejection of the apostle John’s authority, which the former demonstrated by not adhering to the latter’s apostolic teaching to practice hospitality towards itinerant teachers of the gospel by financially and materially supporting these teachers.

This is indicated by several factors.

In verse 5, John commends Gaius for obeying his apostolic teaching by practicing hospitality towards these itinerant teachers, which demonstrated the love of God.

In verse 6, the apostle encourages Gaius to continue this practice.

Then, in verse 9, the apostle John condemns Diotrephes for not adhering to his teaching and thus rejecting his apostolic authority.

In verse 10, John says that Diotrephes unjustly accused him and did not practice hospitality towards those itinerant teachers of the gospel but in fact put them out of the church.

He also had forbidden those in the church under his pastoral authority from practicing hospitality towards these itinerant teachers.

In verse 11, John describes Diotrephes actions as evil.

This resulted in John sending Demetrius who was to stay with Gaius.

Therefore, the contents of Third John indicate that unlike Second John, the apostle John was not dealing with the issue of false teachers teaching false doctrine.

Rather, it appears that John is dealing with the issue of a pastor rejecting his apostolic authority by not supporting itinerant teachers of the gospel financially and materially and forbidding others in the church to do so.

There is nothing in the epistle which would indicate that Diotrephes was teaching false doctrine.

Why he decided to reject John’s apostolic authority is revealed in verse 9.

Diotrephes loved to be first or prominent and preeminent among the church’s members.

[1] Akin, D. (2003). John, Letters From. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen & T. C. Butler, Ed.) (937). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. [2] Wahlde, U. C. v. (2012). John, Letters of. In J. D. Barry & L. Wentz (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary (J. D. Barry & L. Wentz, Ed.). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. [3] Dictionary of the later New Testament and its developments. 1997 (R. P. Martin & P. H. Davids, Ed.) (electronic ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.