“The elder” (v. 1) is a title that the apostle John applied to himself late in life. (The apostle Peter referred to himself the same way; 1Pt 5:1.) No one other than the apostle John was ever suggested by the early church as the writer of 1 John. Since there are so many similarities between 1 and 3 John, it is generally accepted that John also wrote the third letter.
Third John likely was written during the last two decades of the first century. During this era, John gave pastoral leadership to churches in the area of Ephesus. We have no way of precisely dating 3 John, but it is reasonable that it was written around the same time as 1 and 2 John or slightly afterwards. Its tone reveals it to be a highly personal letter that reflects John’s affection for these believers and his deep concern for their welfare.
The two short epistles of 2 and 3 John are often described as “twin epistles,” though they should be viewed as fraternal and not identical. There are some significant similarities worth noting. In both epistles the author described himself as “the Elder” (2Jn 1; 3Jn 1), and the recipients were those whom he loved “in truth” (2Jn 1; 3Jn 1). The recipients were a cause for great rejoicing by John (2Jn 4; 3Jn 3). They were “walking in the truth” (2Jn 4; 3Jn 3), and the elder has received good reports about them (2Jn 4; 3Jn 3,5). Both letters contain a warning (2Jn 8; 3Jn 9-11), and the Elder desired to see the recipients face-to-face (2Jn 12; 3Jn 14). Finally, both letters convey greetings from others (2Jn 13; 3Jn 14).
This brief letter of apostolic instruction underscores certain central Christian convictions: love, truth, faithfulness, the church, and witness. It also testifies to the God-centeredness of apostolic faith (vv. 7,11). Jesus and the Spirit are not mentioned specifically (unless “the truth itself” in v. 12 refers to Jesus; see Jn 14:6; 1Jn 5:20). But in the writer’s view, Jesus and the Spirit were undoubtedly included in the reference to “God” whose “truth” this epistle appeals to so frequently (3Jn 1,3,4,8,12).
The letter follows the basic epistolary pattern with an introduction (vv. 1-4), body (vv. 5-12), and a conclusion (vv. 13-14). Though verses 1-4 clearly function as the salutation, it is also possible to outline the letter around the four personalities of the book. Verses 1-8 contain a multifold commendation of Gaius. Verses 9-10 condemn the highhanded and malicious autocracy of Diotrephes. Verses 11-12, taken as a unit, praise the godly Demetrius. Verses 13-14 close with a glimpse into the heart of the Elder. Four men and their reputations (growing out of their behavior) are the sum and substance of 3 John’s subject matter. John constructed this letter with the building blocks of key-word repetition: “dear friend” (vv. 1,2,5,11); “truth” or “true” (vv. 1,3,4,8,12). Third John provides insight into a personality conflict that arose at the end of the first century and the strategy adopted by the Elder to resolve it.
The elder:
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well. A 3 For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth — how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.
QUOTE 4
Many who ought to know better think themselves superlatively blessed if their children become rich, marry well, strike out into profitable enterprises, or attain eminence in their profession.
5 Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, 7 since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans. B 8 Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority. 10 This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. 12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius — even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.
4 “I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.” It is grievous to see how some professing Christian parents are satisfied as long as their children display cleverness in learning or sharpness in business, although they show no signs of a renewed nature. If they pass their exams with credit and promise to be well fitted for the world’s battle, their parents forget that a superior is calling, involving a higher crown, for which the child will need to be fitted by divine grace and armed with the whole armor of God. If our children lose the crown of life, it will be but a small consolation that they have won the laurels of literature or art. Many who ought to know better think themselves superlatively blessed if their children become rich, marry well, strike out into profitable enterprises, or attain eminence in their profession. These parents will go to bed rejoicing and wake satisfied—though their boys are on the road to hell—if they are also making money. They have no greater joy than that their children are having their portion in this life and laying up treasure where rust corrupts it. Though neither their sons nor their daughters show any signs of the new birth, give no evidence of being rich toward God, manifest no traces of electing love, redeeming grace, or the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, yet the parents are content with their condition.
I hope no parent will allow their children to grow up and leave their roof without knowing the doctrines of the gospel, the life of Christ, and the great precepts of Scripture—without having as clear an understanding as possible of the great principles and plan of salvation. It should be the holy ambition of every parent that his entire family should be renewed by the Holy Spirit. Happy as a marriage day is that day when a parent sees his child surrendered to the people of God, having first given his heart to Christ. The joy of the text is that the children “walk in the truth”—the actual demonstration of the power of the gospel in their lives. This proves that the teaching was well received, the feeling was not mere excitement, and the profession was not a falsehood but was done in truth.