The Firewall

3 John 1

3 John 1

In this letter, John is complimenting Gaius on his hospitality towards Christian brothers who have stayed with him.  In the next paragraph, he calls out Diotrephes for doing the opposite!  It is possible that Gaius was a member of Diotrephes' church, and that since Diotrephes wouldn't accept John's letters (v 9), Gaius was being asked to speak to him on John's behalf.  It could also be that Gaius was from a different church and John didn't want the same actions to take root there.  Any way around it, v 11 sums up the situation, and gives us a seemingly simple but actually quite deep truth: "do not imitate what is evil but what is good."  Sometimes the simplest of ideas are the most profound.

Over this summer, we've covered the letters of James, Peter, and John.  Let's complete the sequence by looking at the book of Jude tomorrow, before heading back to the Old Testament for a while.  Thanks for reading today!

God Bless,
Jason Chaillou
thefirewall@comcast.net

An Introduction to the Book of 3 John

An Introduction to the Book of 3 John

The book of 3 John is the last in a series of three letters written by the Apostle John.  Unlike the other letters, there is little doubt that John was its author.  This letter is addressed to Gaius, which was a common Roman name.  Gaius was known and trusted by John, and this letter was sent to him both to encourage his faithfulness and to attempt to correct a problem in a church local to Gaius.  As with John's other letters, this letter is dated between 85 and 95 AD; notice John's use of the phrase "my children", reinforcing the idea of these letters being written later in his life.  3 John's fourteen verses make it one verse longer than 2 John, making it one of the shortest books in the Bible.

God Bless,
Jason Chaillou
thefirewall@comcast.net