2 John 12-13-Final Greetings From John and Another Church
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday July 7, 2013
Second John: 2 John 12-13-Final Greetings From John and Another Church
Lesson # 6
Please turn in your Bibles to 2 John 1.
2 John 1 From the elder, to the elect lady, specifically, her children whom I myself divinely love by means of the truth. Indeed, not only I but also each and every one who knows the truth experientially. 2 Also, I myself divinely love her children because of the truth which, as an eternal spiritual truth does reside in each and every one of us throughout eternity. 3 Grace, compassion, peace originating from God the Father as well as originating from Jesus who is the Christ, who is the Father’s Son will be permitted to exist among each and every one of us by means of truth resulting in divine-love. 4 I was prompted to greatly rejoice because I found some of your children making it a habit of living by means of truth just as we received the command from the Father. 5 Specifically I now make a request of you lady-I am by no means communicating at this particular time in writing to you as it were an unfamiliar command but rather one which we were habitually subjected to from the beginning-that we make it our habit of divinely loving one another. 6 In fact, this is, as an eternal spiritual truth divine-love, namely that we are living according to His commands. This is the command, just as all of you heard through instruction from the beginning, namely that all of you make it your habit of living by means of it. 7 For you see, many deceivers have gone out into the world, those, who do not acknowledge Jesus as the Christ appearing in a human body. This does, as an eternal spiritual truth, identify the deceiver as well as the antichrist. 8 All of you begin and continue to protect yourselves in order that all of you will not lose the things which we have worked hard for but instead obtain a full reward. 9 Each and every person who is a transgressor, specifically, not conforming to the standard of teaching concerning the person of Christ, never, as an eternal spiritual truth, experiences fellowship with God. Those who conform to the standard of teaching concerning the person of Christ, this one is, as an eternal spiritual truth experiencing fellowship with both the Father and the Son. 10 If, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that anyone does at any time come into the presence of any one of you but never accepts this teaching and we agree we are those who don’t then, all of you do not receive him into the home. Specifically, all of you do not communicate for the purpose of attempting to welcome him 11 because the one who at any time does communicate for the purpose of attempting to welcome him does, as an eternal spiritual truth contribute to his actions, which are evil in character. (My translation)
2 John 12 Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full. (NASB95)
“Though I have many things to write to you” indicates that even though John possessed the ability to communicate various doctrinal subjects in writing to the recipients of the epistle, he by no means wanted to do this but rather he wanted to communicate these things in a face to face manner.
“You” is the plural form of the personal pronoun su means “all of you” and is referring to the recipients of this letter who resided in a house church in Ephesus and speaks of these Christians as a collective whole or corporate unit.
“Many things” is referring to many other subjects, which John wanted to communicate to the recipients of this epistle in a face to face manner rather than by a letter, which are in addition to the subjects he communicated in this epistle.
“I do not want to do so with paper and ink” is emphatic and denotes that John by no means wanted to communicate in writing to the recipients of this epistle many other subjects.
“But I hope to come to you and speak face to face” is marking an emphatic contrast between John’s refusal to write to the recipients of this epistle many other subjects, and his confident expectation of speaking with them with regards to these subjects in a face to face manner.
“Hope” is the verb elpizō, which means “to confidently expect” something to take place indicating that John “confidently expected” to arrive at the location in which the recipients of this epistle were geographically located and communicate with them in a face to face manner.
“So that your joy may be made full” presents the purpose of John speaking in the presence of the recipients of this epistle.
This result refers to the recipients of this epistle experiencing joy which is produced in them by the Holy Spirit communicating the Father’s will for their lives through the apostle John teaching them face to face.
The noun chara, “joy” contains a figure of speech called metonymy of the effect where the recipients of this epistle experiencing fellowship with God is a cause for joy for both John and them.
Here we have the effect for the person producing it, thus John’s readers will produce joy in his life and in their own lives by listening to his apostolic teaching in a face to face manner.
John’s happiness or joy is two-fold: (1) Personal (2) Professional.
Personal happiness or joy for the believer is primarily based upon obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the teaching of the Word of God (Jn. 4:34-36; 15:11; 17:13; Rm. 15:13, 32; 2 C. 1:24; 7:4; Phlp. 1:25; Col. 1:11; H. 10:34; 12:2; Jm. 1:2; 1 P. 1:8; 1 Jn. 1:4).
John’s professional happiness is related to his spiritual gift rather than his own personal spiritual life (2 C. 2:3; 7:13; Phlp. 1:4; 2:2; 4:1; 1 Th. 2:19-20; 3:9; 2 Jn. 1:12; 2 Jn. 4).
His professional happiness was based upon the fact that his readers were experiencing fellowship with God.
However, the failure of John’s readers to experience fellowship and thus do the will of God would not destroy his own personal happiness, which he acquired by being obedient to the will of the Father, which is revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God.
“Made full” is the verb plēroō, which means “maximum” since it is a Greek idiom for joy that is filled to the brim and continues to stay full to the point of overflowing.
Therefore, this word denotes the joy of the recipients of this epistle and John existing in a maximum state as a result of John teaching the recipients of this epistle in a face to face manner.
2 John 12 Even though I am able to communicate in writing many other subjects to each and every one of you, I by no means want to with paper and ink. But rather, I am absolutely certain and confidently expect to arrive in the presence of all of you, that is, to speak face to face in order to cause our joy to exist in a maximum state. (My translation)
3 John 13 echoes 2 John 12.
The apostle John’s mention of maximum joy in 2 John 12 echoes the mention of maximum joy in 1 John 1:4.
Here in 2 John 12, the apostle John emphasizes with the recipients of this epistle his desire to teach on many other subjects in a face to face manner rather than communicate these things in writing.
He tells his readers that by teaching them in a face to face manner it would cause his joy and their joy to exist in a maximum state.
Written letters were considered an inferior substitute for personal presence or for a speech, and writers sometimes concluded their letters with the promise to discuss matters further face-to-face.
What were these other subjects he wanted to communicate in a face to face manner rather than by writing?
The contents of 1 John give us a good idea as to what John was planning to teach the recipients of 2 John.
Remember, historically speaking 1 John was written after 2 John.
2 John 13 The children of your chosen sister greet you. (NASB95)
“The children” is the noun teknon, which is referring to the individual Christians who composed the house church and whose greeting the apostle John was passing along to the recipients of this epistle.
“Chosen sister” refers to a church whose greeting John is passing along here to the recipients of this epistle in verse 13 describing them as having been called or chosen out from the earth’s inhabitants who are enslaved to the sin nature and the devil and his cosmic system by God the Father in eternity past.
“You” is the singular form of the personal pronoun su means “you” which is referring to the recipients of this letter who resided in a house church in Ephesus and speaks of these Christians as a collective whole or corporate unit.
2 John 13 The children belonging to your elect sister give their regards to you. (My translation)
The conclusion of this tiny epistle anticipates the apostle John returning to teach the recipients of this epistle.
Evidently, he felt his personal presence and leadership was essential in light of the presence of the false teachers in Ephesus.
John closes by passing along greetings from one church to another.
He is passing along to the recipients of this epistle, greetings from another house church which he identifies as “your elect sister.”
The individual members of this sister church are called “the children” which expresses the close relationship that existed between the two churches.
It denotes that they shared the same relationship with the triune God through faith in Jesus Christ, which served as the basis for fellowship between the two.
It also indicates that “the elect lady” in verse 1 is not an individual but a figurative expression for a house church in Ephesus.
Furthermore, it also indicates that “the elect lady” in verse 1 is not a reference to the universal church since it does not have a sister.
