Dec 7 2020 - Introduction to the second and third Epistles of John

Introduction to the second and third Epistles of John

2 and 3 John, unlike 1 John, are personal letters, each the length of an ordinary private letter of the time and having the standard type of introduction and conclusion.

Howard Marshall writes, "Although 2 John is apparently written to an individual, the 'chosen lady' (2 Jn. 1), it is probable that it is in fact a way of personifying a community. By contrast 3 John is written to a specific person, Gaius, and it deals with ecclesiastical rather than theological problems. Its background appears to lie in the growth of a new type of church organisation. At first the various churches were to a considerable extent under the guidance and leadership of apostles and evangelists (like Paul, Timothy, and Titus) who travelled from place to place and maintained a general supervision over the churches placed under their care. In this type of situation the role and authority of the local leaders whom they appointed was correspondingly restricted. But as time passed and the churches increased in number, a new situation began to arise. The apostles and their colleagues were growing old, or had actually died. There was no universal system of succession, and it was natural that local churches should begin to develop a more powerful leadership of their own. At the same time there was a tendency toward the concentration of leadership … 'team ministry' was giving way to the idea of one man … who occupied a position of leadership over the other church officials. It looks as though Diotrephes was trying to encourage this process in his own church – naturally with himself as the appointed leader. He was seeking autonomy for his own church by trying to get rid of the influence of John and John's emissaries, and he was claiming authority for himself within the church."

These letters raise issues which are equally vital to the welfare and witness of the church in our day.

Peter Misselbrook