3 John (Amp)
1 THE ELDERLY elder [of the church addresses this letter]
to the beloved (esteemed) Gaius, whom I truly love.
John was the oldest of all the disciples. Jesus even hinted that he might never die
(John 21:20-23) which was not the case but some of his disciples chose to
believe that. He did live longer than
any other disciple and according to history died in 100 AD at advanced age. He was rumored to have been boiled in oil and
miraculously spared and was interred on the island of Patmos for many
years. Everyone knew that he was the
disciple truly beloved of God.
Tradition says that when John was very old and near death he
was asked what is the most important part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He answered that it was love … agape. Some may seek to picture John as a somewhat
effeminate man who merely spouted words of love and tenderness. In reality John was John ben Zebedee, one of
the son’s of thunder. He and his brother
James were hard fighting fishermen who powerfully portrayed how the love and
grace of God could change a heart and mold a life.
When Jesus was dying on the cross and his mother wept on the
ground below, Jesus looked down at her and said, “Woman, behold your son,” and
then looked at John and said, “Behold your mother.” Of all his disciples, John alone did not
flee; when the women went to the tomb and Mary Magdalene discovered the Lord’s
body was missing she hurried to tell Peter and John of the miracle. Of all the disciples who traveled with Jesus,
none was more beloved of Christ and more likely to be heeded when he spoke.
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and
[that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and
prospers.
The King James translation of this verse says, “Beloved, I
would that you prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.” Many take that to mean that if your soul
‘spirit’ prospers then your body and finances will also. In the Amplified it appears to be a prayer
for health and wealth to keep pace with his already strong faith. I tend to believe that it is indeed a
blessing rather than a specific promise of good health following spiritual
maturity. I have known too many mighty
saints of God who suffered ill health and poverty. Jesus even told the poor and poverty stricken
church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8) that they were rich. God does not promise that all of His children
will be rich and live perfect lives in this world. We will suffer persecutions and setbacks as
we grow; in fact Jesus told the wealthy church of the Laodiceans, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17).” Wealth is no indicator that you are ‘doing it
right.’
3 In fact, I greatly rejoiced when [some of] the brethren
from time to time arrived and spoke [so highly] of the sincerity and fidelity
of your life, as indeed you do live in the Truth [the whole Gospel presents]. 4
I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are
living their lives in the Truth.
Consider this statement of John’s. He has no greater joy than to hear that his
spiritual children live their lives in the truth. Do you?
Are you blessed to know that those you have poured your heart into are
prospering, possibly more than you? We
ought to be comfortable enough with our faith to trust God even when our
spiritual children far surpass us. I
recall a story I heard about a man in a shoe store who used to pray for and
witness to those who came in. He
ministered to a man who ministered to another man who inspired another man who
won another man to the Lord. That last
man became a famous evangelist. Sadly, I
do not recall which modern evangelist that is; but you must ask yourself if you
would be comfortable pouring your all into every life you come in contact with
in the hopes that they will one day supersede you?
My late Apostle, Joseph L. Sims was one such man and as such
I cannot think of anyone greater in that respect. He reached out to fools and pimps, addicts
and losers, preachers and actors. His
most powerful weapon was his humble grace and the ability to offer a strong arm
and tender heart to all who he met. I
will admit that he was also able to deliver a swift kick or sharp rebuke when
needed as well, but was quick to give grace to the repentant. He was wounded many times over the years and
never allowed it to interfere with the dispensation of God’s love and
deliverance. If he had a creed it was to
make godly men out of those only God could love. He was good at it. I am proud to call him my father in the
gospel. I can hear him calling from
heaven, “Come on son, you can do it!”
5 Beloved, it is a fine and faithful work that you are
doing when you give any service to the [Christian] brethren, and [especially
when they are] strangers.
How about this? Do
you consider it a fine and faithful work to offer help and finances to those
who are actively doing the work of God in areas and ways that you are not
able? If you are a preacher, are the
tithes you receive for you alone or are you always thinking of ways to bring
help to the poor around you? The last
part of this, “…especially when they are strangers,” is most telling. Strangers come and go. They are not likely to be able to reciprocate
with you and bless you in turn. They
come and go at the behest of the Lord and you may not see them again. Are you willing to bless those who work
passionately and tirelessly for the Lord knowing full well you will never
receive anything in return? The best you
might hope for in this circumstance is a hearty, “Well done thou good and
faithful servant.” Is it enough?
6 They have testified before the church of your love and
friendship. You will do well to forward them on their journey [and you will
please do so] in a way worthy of God’s [service].
Apparently Gaius was one such leader of God’s people. He was always quick to bless those who passed
through on their way to minister God’s Word in virgin territory. Notice that John says he does well to do
so. The word ‘well’ is kalos which means to leave no room for
blame. This is in spite of the vast
number of people who would find fault.
He will discuss them later in this letter.
7 For these [traveling missionaries] have gone out for
the Name’s sake (for His sake) and are accepting nothing from the Gentiles (the
heathen, the non-Israelites). 8 So we ourselves ought to support such people
[to welcome and provide for them], in order that we may be fellow workers in
the Truth (the whole Gospel) and cooperate with its teachers.
In the amplified version “Name” is capitalized because it
refers to more than the sound of a name just as Jesus, Christ and Lord mean
more than the sound of those words. In
KJV it says, “…his name’s sake.” Name
here is autos which carries the idea
of presenting all that the name means, not merely identifying an
individual. The word ‘sake’ is hyper which means to go above and
beyond. These traveling missionaries are
not merely telling a tale of God’s love; they are carrying that love, that
power and that vision to all who will hear.
They are going above and beyond for the purpose of exemplifying the Word
of God to the lost heathen. They are
presenting the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and
the Last, Which was and which is and which is to come; our Lord and Savior
Jesus, the Christ.
Defining all these attributes is only the beginning of what
these brave ministers endeavored to bring to the lost souls in the pagan
world. To make sure they win as many as
possible they refuse to so much as receive an offering from those they
reach. The church was supposed to send
them out and the church was supposed to support them. If we do not support these who go out and do
the work then we have no part or honor in the work they are doing. Preaching to the lost is the best and
greatest work of any ministry; well above merely feeding the born again sheep.
9 I have written briefly to the church; but Diotrephes,
who likes to take the lead among them and put himself first, does not
acknowledge my authority and refuses to accept my suggestions or to listen to
me.
John was the ‘beloved disciple’ of scripture. None was closer to Jesus, not even Peter who
often appeared to be the bold brash little brother who always tagged along and
occasionally got in the way. When Jesus
asked Peter who he believed Jesus was he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God (Matthew 16:13-18).”
There is no doubt that Peter had faith along with his impetuosity, but
though that faith, that rock of certainty would be used to build the church, he
was never the ‘beloved disciple.’
Everyone who believed in Christ knew that John was one of the great and
most senior apostles. When he wrote you
a letter, you listened.
Diotrephes was apparently a local elder or pastor of a
church near Gaius. Paul desired him to
assist these traveling missionaries which would have meant putting them up for
a few nights and possibly giving them a few shekels to tide them over. Diotrephes was that pastor who believed that
he spoke for God more powerfully than anyone else. John was a very gracious man by this
time. His rough edges had mostly been
filed down and he sought to bring God’s grace and mercy to all mankind. Even so, this gracious man knew the authority
in which he walked.
In John 15:7 he wrote, “If we abide in Christ and His word
abides in us, we can ask whatever we will and it will be done for us.” Did anyone abide more in Christ and His Word
than John? You might suggest Paul who
wrote most of the New Testament or James or Jude who were actually Jesus’
brothers, but in truth, John was the truly BELOVED disciple. He had a position that was unique and knew
it. He cared for and protected the
Lord’s mother. He was the one who lay at
Jesus breast during the final supper.
When such a one makes a suggestion either through letter or face to face,
you ought to consider what that suggestion will mean to your future in God
should you make the wrong choice.
Proverbs 11:24 says that a man can scatter abroad and have
much increase while one who withholds more than is fitting will starve. Diotrephes chose to withhold, to mock John
and scorn his authority. In the parable
of the wicked husbandmen (Luke 20:9–19, Mark 12:1–12, and Matthew
21:33–46), it tells of those who are hired to perform a task and to provide
rent to the landlord. This hireling in
his greed abuses the servants of the landlord and eventually murders his
beloved son. They supposed that the
landlord was weak and ineffectual, unable to defend his own property. In our case God’s son prayed for us while we
were killing Him. He took up our cause
and prayed for our souls to be forgiven.
He paid the entire deadly price for our salvation and left his beloved
disciple to assist in establishing the church.
Scripture says that the power of life
and death is in the tongue. The more we
grow in Christ, the more we can be trusted to use the power of God wisely, the
more this is true for us individually. Diotrephes,
like many in authority today, had forgotten from where his authority
derived. He did not really believe that
at one word from John, God might dispatch a legion of angels to defend his
servant’s honor. The Son of God had
already been killed for the salvation of mankind. Does it seem wise for this man to mock or
ignore one who was His most beloved friend upon the earth?
10 So when I arrive, I will call attention to what he is
doing, his boiling over and casting malicious reflections upon us with
insinuating language. And not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive and
welcome the [missionary] brethren himself, and also interferes with and forbids
those who would welcome them, and tries to expel (excommunicate) them from the
church.
John’s description of Diotrephes is a pot beginning to boil
over with his own selfish pride and arrogance.
It was not enough for him to simply tell John he couldn’t help him at
this time. He chose to allow his pride
to run his mouth and began to speak evil of John and cast aspersions against
him falsely. Perhaps he told his people
that he was closer to Jesus than John or that John was sinning against God and
it was his responsibility to bring that failure out. Whatever his thoughts on this matter, John
was neither fearful or uncertain of how to meet this threat to the body of
Christ.
Sadly, he did not stop there but even threatened to
excommunicate all who would help those John had sent. He even went so far as to attempt this
against those with a love of God and John.
Have you ever known anyone like this…someone who believed they knew
better than anyone what God desired in any given situation and would fight to
make sure they were obeyed? I have and
it was not pretty. Hear what John said
about these situations.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who
does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen (discerned or experienced)
God [has enjoyed no vision of Him and does not know Him at all
There are pulpits all over the world filled by men of God
who love Jesus’s Word and await His appearing.
There are also pulpits around the world that are filled with men of
pride, hatred and a desire to see the kingdom of God made over in their image
and personal vision. Satan began this
when he believed himself to be equal with God.
He now seeks to continue his blasphemy in the hearts and minds of
mankind. In many cases he is hugely
successful. These men do not know God at
all and He does not know them. This does
not stop them from insisting they alone know how we must approach God and
obtain salvation.
