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(Studies in the Epistles of John)
EAGLE BIBLE
SERIES
Prelude
Songs of
love, life, and fellowship—these are the Epistles of
John. An opening statement can properly be called
Prelude. Hints can be held out that later movements in
the composition will bring fulfilling satisfactions. The
discord and dissonance of every age will be somehow
resolved. From “in the beginning” and beyond it there is
a Word. It is eternal, divine, and it sings its way from
eternity then, all the way to the eternal someday. That
living, creative, loving, healing Word is our pitch and
keynote.
Just suppose
that you knew Jesus Christ in the flesh. You are the
last person alive who was chosen by him at the first to
be an apostle to carry the cause. You are the author of
a Gospel written especially to share information about
Jesus Christ and give life and assurance to lost men and
women. You now see a whole new set of challenges
disturbing and distressing the congregations of
believers. You know that a firm, fresh voice, an
apostolic eyewitness, must be heard once more by the
church. Some certain truths need to be affirmed as a
bulwark against growing and insistent heresies. An
epistle must be circulated through all the churches that
will focus attention again on the realities of the
historical Jesus Christ. The good Creator who became
incarnate must be held up as central truth.
Chapter 1
Hospitality? No!
2 John 1:13
How do
you deal with an irksome guest? How do you show
Christian hospitality to one who would abuse it? Is
there a Christian self–concern that is as important as
an outstretched hand? Can you be true to both yourself
and a sneaky supplicant? How do you protect your family
from a religious “con man”? What is your responsibility
toward a wandering parasite? How do you love a leech?
Life is a
great symphony. Often there are notes and chords that
jar the senses. All things (even discords) can be made
to work in God’s Music. Let’s see in the Second Epistle
of John if we can find some of his answers. The style of
this personal letter is typical of the day. Names and
greetings are first. Elder, or presbyter, suggests at
the time of the writing of this letter simply one who is
respected as an older leader of the church, probably
with apostolic connections. The meaning of elect lady is
disputed. From the early church fathers some have
regarded her as an individual, but perhaps most have
seen this as meaning the church, the community of
Christians. Her children would be literal in the first
case and spiritual in the other.
In any case,
John loves them all. This love is in the truth. For
John, truth is what is real. It is the atmosphere of the
church’s life. It is abiding reality. Love can flourish
only in the ground of truth. If truth abides, then
grace, mercy, and peace will be coming. God is the
source of them. Note the way John says this: From God
the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son. This
last phrase is found nowhere else in the Bible, and it
makes a point. Father and Son are bound together in a
grammatic equality that is significant. It is a reminder
of the unique place given to Jesus Christ by John in all
his books. If any redemptive truth works in any
situation, Jesus Christ will be at the heart of it. If
there is any foundation for integrity (the reality of
truth), Jesus Christ is it.
John is
joyous that some of your children [are] following the
truth. (Truth is one of the key words in this letter,
found five times in some versions. Love is found four
times, commandment four times, and walking three times.)
By implication, some of the children are not following
the truth. John goes on to challenge all to walk in love
according to the old and new commandment. When the
outward lives of people are not walking in love, John
trusts that a call to love will arouse their hearts and
motives. What is lacking will be made up. Love will see
to it.
A command to
love is necessary. A warning from John puts the whole
matter into sharp focus. Deceivers have gone out (a
particular crisis time in the church?) into the world.
Deceivers breed confusion. False teachers divide the
flock and scatter the sheep. Division and lovelessness
result. What is the nature of the false teaching? These
individuals do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh. That confession is defective. It is not
according to the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship.
Inadequate interpretations denied the real incarnation
of God’s Son Jesus Christ. A false teacher’s superior
knowledge would tend to bring the body of Christ, the
church, into disarray. Believers would be used, abused,
and divided. This is the nature of deception. It makes
brittle and callous the relationships within the body.
This
precisely is the antichrist. Here is a term that is
suggestive. It seems that a body of teaching had grown
up around the idea of a person, a man of sin, a mystery
of iniquity, that would oppose Christ. John never uses
the term false Christ for one who pretends to be the
true messiah. Rather, he uses antichrist for one who
proposes to do the work of the messiah while at the same
time denying the reality of Jesus the Christ of God.
Be warned.
Watch out lest you lose what you have from God. Anyone
who goes ahead (with speculative theories) and does not
abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.
Anyone who rests in Christ has both Father and Son. If
any one comes is assumed by the Greek as fact. They come
officially as teachers and evangelists. They bring fresh
interpretations and new insights. Some are mistakenly
moving beyond the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some are
leaving behind the common faith of the church. They must
be ignored and counted as antichrist. They must be
refused the gracious greeting of the group. They must be
deprived of Christian hospitality. John is bluntly,
lovingly firm about it. “Give no one hospitality who no
longer abides in, rests in, and trusts himself or
herself in Christ’s doctrine. The blessing of the group
must not be given to anyone who would use or divide the
fellowship.” This is abrupt. It is protection for the
fellowship. It is given apostolic authority. “Shut that
person out.”
Love for the
fellowship can make John the Elder a stern and
formidable opponent to the enlightened teacher who would
“go beyond” the basic teachings and leave the ground of
practical reality behind. But that same elder, John, can
turn back to the faithful with loving gentleness. He can
lay aside the pen and papyrus with the anticipation of
full joy in personal meeting.
Shut Him Out
Now that is
a sour note in a sweet chord. How could a Christian
leader, John the Elder, ever counsel a part of the fold
to withhold hospitality? Except for that note, it is a
loving letter to an elect lady. What a pleasure it is to
pen words of loving truth to those who had received the
Word of God! What a privilege to commend again every
evidence of love growing in the fellowship! However,
there is also painful responsibility. A warning must be
given. The harmonies of faith are disrupted. The
fellowship is disturbed. As a result, in certain cases,
hospitality is to be totally withheld. The elect lady is
in danger. False teachers are on the prowl.
If she is an
individual, can you see her problem? No mention is made
of a husband, and yet she seems to be the head of a
household. Perhaps she is a widow and a businesswoman,
successfully overseeing her family. When in the
vicinity, John the Elder is her guest. He benefits from
that natural sharing of the Christian home. He takes a
personal interest in the children. He cares about what
happens to them. He senses the weight of responsibility
she carries as the spiritual leader in her home. No harm
must come to the children. No one must be allowed to
lead them astray. If false teachers are in town, she
should ignore them. If designing persons covet her
lambs, she must shut them out. Bar the door. Maintain
the sanctuary of home. This is a priority over
hospitality to others. Some have deduced that John had
more than common interest in the lady. Far more likely
is the relationship with Jesus Christ, the divine
bridegroom. His rights and real presence are the bulwark
against false, confusing teachings.
If the elect
lady represents the church as seems likely, the problem
is the same. John is concerned for the truth about Jesus
Christ. It must be preserved unadulterated. Any threat
to the fellowship must be contained for Christ’s sake.
Even if the grace of hospitality seems to be curtailed,
the body of believers must be protected. “Shut him out.”
The message is clear.
How’s Your
Love Life?
That is an
exciting question. It has implications beyond toothpaste
and superficial sex. One’s love life does not primarily
mean passion a la the pop culture. Nor is the love life
a matter of blushing sentiment as recalled by
grandparents. Love is a way of life that involves
conscious, deliberate acts, and choices, and it almost
seems an intellectual thing. In marriage and family,
love is more than promise. It blends desire and
companionship, possession and affection. It is a
commitment reached consciously and deliberately. By
God’s loving plan, we experience love in family and in
fellowship. The home and church nurture us. Family is an
attempt at an intimate society of people who believe in
each other.
Love life
evolves in its patterns. Everyone in a family must have
a personal share, and it moves from one sort to another.
The love we have to offer is of a higher sort and with
deeper significance as we grow and develop. All of us
start with the getting, “gimme” love of the infant who
shrieks until satisfied. Eventually, each one learns the
fun of shared experience. Friendly, loving acts are
enjoyed by all. As responsibilities and opportunities
for maturity arrive, then we may become channels for
selfless, godlike love. How’s your love life?’ How
mature is it?
The level of
one’s maturity can be measured by response to the
weakness of the immature. Joseph Parker of London said.
“My strength is not my own. It belongs to the weakest
child I see who needs help. When I see an oppressed man
that is suffering injustice, I interfere with that
situation and go to the aid of that man. And the
oppressor of that man says, ‘He’s not yours.’
Christianity demands that I say. ‘He is mine. Need makes
him mine if I can touch him and help him.’ ‘Why give
bread to a poor child? He is not yours.’ ‘Yes, he is
mine. His need makes him mine. By virtue of that child’s
necessity, he is my child. By its weakness, by its
poverty, by its tears, by its homelessness, he is my
child.’” So necessary is love. How’s your love life?
Responsibility for each other is a
mark of maturity in love, whether in the blood family or
the church family. We hear the call of God and we
realize that the mission is to the wider world out
there, but also to the little world close by. Our
children are a mission field at home and at church.
Bearing the gospel message to the next generation may be
as important as bearing it to the next town. We are only
half right when we try to evangelize the next nation
while the next generation of our own nation reverts to
wild paganism or infidelity. Never should the world
missionary fires be banked or the thermostat of
worldwide concern be set lower. However, the hearth
fires need to be kindled. How’s your love life for
children?
The
interests of the children must be protected. Whether in
a home or a congregation, it is needful. If a mad person
is peddling poison in the form of candy, what should a
parent do? If a deranged person is distributing loaded
guns to children, if destructive liquids and pills are
being made available, if God–given values are being
subtly destroyed by religious racketeers, what will a
loving person do? Elect ladies who have the oversight of
a family or a congregation of children, what will you
do? The firm clear advice of John, the apostle of love,
is: “Turn away and refuse your hospitality to those
clever teachers who divide you. Save your children from
those whose doctrine is divisive in regard to Jesus
Christ.”
Responsible
for self, for family, and others. How’s your love life?
Chapter 2
Hospitality?
Yes!
3 John 1-13
How do
you deal with a church boss? How do you handle a person
in your family or group who uses you? All persons have
needs that drive and dominate their behavior. Sometimes
that domination extends over others and no one is
allowed the freedom to grow naturally. How do you love a
person who has been locked into a power game? The
clashing of cymbals is over quickly, even if it leaves
your ears ringing. Clashing with some Diotrephes may
last longer until a whole church has its teeth set on
edge. Interested?
John the
Elder encourages hospitality to the recognized traveling
evangelists. Gaius has done well even though it was
against the policy of the locally recognized leader of
the church. An elder is presumed to have wisdom. In this
congregation, it will take wisdom. The sweet note is for
Gaius, a beloved man who has shown true hospitality to
all who have brought the true gospel to the church. His
kindness to men like John and his emissary Demetrius is
in marked contrast to the treatment given by the leader
Diotrephes. Therein is the sour chord. Diotrephes has
ridden this church. He is a determined, ambitious man.
He will dominate and hesitate not at all to speak out
even against one as respected as John the Elder. It is
in view of this rule–or–ruin spirit that Gaius’
hospitality is commended. Whenever the recognized and
approved itinerant teachers and workers pass through the
community, they are to be cared for by the local church
and bid Godspeed.
The elder
since earliest time has been identified with John. This
epistle has been preserved with the First and Second
Epistle, also attributed to him, apparently bound up
with the Gospel and Revelation. Gaius cannot be
identified with certainly. Apparently he was well liked
and readily loved by John. John’s greeting and wish for
health for his friend is typical of the letters of the
age. Inasmuch as spiritual health is a certainty in his
case, the fact of John’s special hope for physical
prosperity leads us to suppose that he may have been
less than robust in body.
The brethren
arrived. This was not one special time, but a continual
coming and going. Such journeys of the missionaries
meant that news would pass through, letters would be
shared, and mutual encouragements would be enjoyed.
Truth is a key word, mentioned six times. Verse 4 hints
that Gaius may have been a convert of John the Elder at
some former time. My children follow the truth. The walk
is evidence of the inner faithfulness. It is a loyal
thing you do. The idea here is that his working is a
process, a continuous carrying out of the assignments
that integrity lays on him. Especially to strangers
indicates that many of the traveling workers were not
personally known to Gaius, but he welcomed them anyhow
for the work’s sake. “It’s a good and proper thing you
do, helping them on their way for the sake of the name.
You do well, for they are worthy of your assistance.”
This is an interesting insight into early church
methods. Therefore, the church (the true Israel of God,
as Paul put it) properly supported the evangelists.
While pagan priests readily took money from their
hearers, the Christian policy was never to make it seem
that the gospel carried a price tag and could be bought.
Of course, the young Christians in the early church
still needed to be taught and to grow in their
understanding of good stewardship.
Diotrephes
means “nourished of Zeus” and his description fits that
parentage. Verse 10 mentions that his speaking against
John was like volatile bubbling up and boiling over. He
was fond of being first, he was fast talking and glib,
and he dared to snub even the apostle and his emissary.
His dominating personality made its mark forever on the
life of the church, hindering, forbidding, and
threatening. What a pattern and model! Common sense
shames and pities that evil behavior that simply
demonstrates that a person does not know God.
Demetrius is
also a name to live forever. Good was witnessed about
him. By the measuring stick of faithful loving service
he was approved; Diotrephes is found wanting. The loving
serving spirit of the incarnate Jesus Christ, Son of
God, is the focal point at the heart of all Christian
fellowship. Much to write … but … see you soon. A
personal greeting is much more satisfying than messages
by reed and ink. Peace … Greet the friends, every one of
them. Peace and salutations are for every member of the
congregation. John wishes well to all who will receive
this greeting.
Scourging
Shitala is a
scourge. You’ve never heard of her? She is one of the
many goddesses of India and none is more fearsome.
Garbed in red, she rides a donkey about the country
looking for victims. According to the legend her whip is
stinging reeds and the skins of her victims erupt in
festering angry pustules, burning like fire. She is the
goddess of smallpox. In 1974 an epidemic raged. It was
the worst in the century. More than seventy thousand
cases were reported in the state of Bihar alone. That is
sixty percent of the world’s reported cases currently
known. The suffering must be experienced to be
understood. As great as the misery is the indifference.
India had a five year plan with 21.6 million dollars set
aside for the states to immunize the citizens. Leaders
in Bihar state never got it done. They were busy in a
struggle for government control. Their lack of concern
for the sufferers spread, infecting the health workers.
While the epidemic raged, the immunization program
languished, and 2,200 Bihari doctors and health workers
threatened strikes unless salary demands were met.
A church can
be scourged. A Diotrephes can smother the loving,
serving, missionary spirit. One neighbor said about the
church that it was an oil well that produced just enough
oil to keep itself going, or a lighthouse whose keeper
insisted on shining the brilliant light in everyone’s
eyes. That is Diotrephes in charge. His self–love
actually dwarfed him. It never allowed him to reach the
height of respectable and responsible apostolic
authority that he disdained. He certainly lost, but so
too did God. The great, eternal enterprise was hindered.
The mission must go on. The special servants of the Lord
must be helped on their way. Demetrius and all like him
are deserving of the support of the congregations.
Struggles for power by sub-Christian leaders must never
get in the way of the mission. The sweet spirit of the
saints must not be stifled. The aroma of affection must
mark all the authoritative moves of the assembly. Gaius
and all like him must prosper in soul and body. The work
must go on. “How long must we wait?” is the unheard,
unspoken cry of those who as yet are unsatisfied. “How
long?” is the cry of the four winds being held back at
the corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1). “How long” is the
voice of the Spirit. The Word warns. Read Proverbs
24:11–12.
Lack of
concern for the suffering is a mark of the plague.
Selfish concern can afflict even leadership. Loving the
prominent place reveals itself in so many ways. It can
resist all other authority. Like all self-delusions it
is sure it is right. How hard to bear are those who have
nurtured the tender self since infancy and have never
outgrown the childishness of it all! How sad that a soul
that was meant to grow, blossom in beauty, and bear
fruit for the coming generations sticks out, instead, as
a twisted, misshapen, goading stumbling block! How
tragic when persons so gifted in many ways are so blind
to their own glaring deficiency!
A friend
tells of a youngster who was having a very bad day.
Someone asked his mother the reason for all the frenzy
and frustration. She explained about her four–year–old:
“He has a hangnail on his sucking thumb.” Poor little
guy takes it out on everyone else. Family members who
are closest and who care the most bear the brunt of his
fussy ways. It is so sad when we seem unable to find the
hangnail that is the source of our thoughtless and
selfish behavior. We splutter and spread our spleen in
blind spite. We spoil the straight, clean witness of the
church. We distort the doctrine with our determined
self-dominance until the disciples are divided. It is a
blindness. A Diotrephes can be so cocksure of himself.
Some high
school students went to the Oklahoma state capitol with
a petition. They asked 271 legislators and members of
their staffs to sign it. One hundred and eleven refused
saying, “It is a dubious proposition.” “It is illegal.”
“It is poorly worded.” When Governor David Hall saw it,
he quickly signed it. He recognized it as the Sixth
Amendment to the United States Constitution. There is a
blindness that rejects loving truth.
Salvaging
What do you
do with a Diotrephes?
Don’t burn
down the church to deal with a church boss. Today’s news
tells of a Mr. Frederick who noticed his dog Bobo
scratching fleas. Getting a spray can of flea killer, he
started to spray Bobo. Bobo didn’t like spray and hid
under a table. The deliverer with spray can followed and
Bobo backed farther away into an electric heater,
setting himself on fire. With that Bobo lunged under the
couch and could not be extricated. Soon the house was on
fire, the fire trucks came, and a crowd gathered. Mr.
Frederick stood with the crowd and watched his house
burn down. Sitting beside him on the ground was Bobo …
still scratching. Ofttimes a would–be savior of the
congregation has destroyed what he hoped to salvage.
Consider
yourself. If Christ can live in you, it is possible to
turn problems into possibilities. Corrie ten Boom (what
an inspiring life!) has said, “God has no problems. Only
plans.” A Diotrephes is an opportunity waiting for you
and Christ. Dream a great dream for that person and make
it come true. Renounce your privilege of self–pity and
start really caring for him or her. There are such great
hopes for unattractive persons. Be like Jesus to them
for their sakes.
Christ is
depending on you as much as needy people do. Out of a
ruined church in a bombed city, someone dragged a
mutilated, handless statue of the Savior. A sign was
hung on the stubs of arms: “I have no other hands than
yours.” It is so. Stretch them out for Christ’s sake.
Don’t say,
“I can’t do anything.” A drop of disinfectant can
cleanse a lot. A drop of germ culture can contaminate to
the million parts. A drop of water falling into certain
acids can cause an explosion. You can do something and
one person has a lot more power at his or her disposal
than is at first apparent. Christ makes the difference.
Only mature spiritual leadership can handle some
problems. Enlist the wisdom of God. Pray for the
troubled. Do something, not nothing. If you care at all,
do something. Diotrephes needs you. He needs loving
friends. He needs a shepherd’s care. Move in on him.
Face him. Get close. Be the most loving friend in his
whole circle. Don’t stay at arm’s length. Get in so
close that, like a boxer, he cannot get a good swing at
you. Get so close that your loving presence is a pointed
contrast to others who might be misled by him. Takes
grace? Yes, but God has plenty for you. God can change
the situation. Give him a chance.
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