Day 341

Hosea 6:1–9:17; 3 John 1:1-15; Psalm 126:1-6; Proverbs 29:12-14

WE READ THE entirety of 2 John yesterday, and we’ll do the same today with 3 John. This letter was probably written at around the same time as the other two letters and was also likely written from Ephesus.

Third John is a bit different from John’s other letters. Like Paul’s letter to Philemon, 3 John is a personal letter. It was written to a man named Gaius, who was an upstanding believer within the network of churches in which John had leadership influence.

John wrote this letter as a word of personal encouragement to Gaius for his passion for the gospel and his willingness to serve and support traveling teachers sent by John throughout the churches. The custom of welcoming itinerant ministers and caring for their needs was common, and John saw this letter as a necessary communication, because a church leader named Diotrephes had distanced himself from John and refused to offer hospitality to the traveling missionaries. To make matters worse, Diotrephes was throwing people out of the church who assisted them.

John wrote Gaius to commend him for showing hospitality to those who were traveling to bring the gospel. This would affirm, in writing, that Gaius was doing the right thing. A personal letter from one of the twelve disciples of Jesus would have carried significant weight with the church(es) involved.

Third John gives us a glimpse into the tensions that existed during the formative years of the church and gives us an opportunity to consider our response when we are chastised for doing what is right.

MEDITATION:

Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.