3 John — Introduction

Third John is another short letter by the Apostle John. This one is addressed to his beloved friend in the faith, Gaius. It was likely written about the time of John’s other epistles (AD 54-56 or earlier) — Grace, page 2229.

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As the previous letter was written to a wealthy woman telling her to shut her door against preachers of a false Gospel, so this letter was written to a wealthy man telling him to open his door to preachers of the true Gospel.

Three men are named: Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius. Gaius was evidently a man of substance and one of a small circle of friends who were true to the Scriptures, faithful to the Apostle John, and despised by the local church. Diotrephes was the ruler of that church, probably by self-appointment and popular election. He and the church rejected the authority of the Apostle; refused to receive preachers accredited by him; and excommunicated those who did receive them. Demetrius was an evangelist, commended by the Apostle and many others, and accredited as a preacher of the truth by the spiritual results of his ministry. — Williams, page 1020.

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This is a private Epistle to an individual. … The Apostle speaks in the same authoritative tone as in the previous Epistle, but this is a letter of encouragement rather than of warning. The Second Epistle contends against false teaching; the Third condemns schism.

The name Gaius was so common in the Roman Empire that it serves no useful purpose to try and identify the one to whom this Epistle is addressed with any of the other three mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. Again it is quite precarious to seek to identify Demetrius with the silversmith in Ephesus, on the supposition that he was converted subsequently to his opposition to Paul. — Vine, page 121.

It is important to remember that John was an Apostle to the Jewish Kingdom Church, and not to the Body of Christ (Galatians 2:9). While all Scripture is profitable, we need to be aware that we are not the primary audience.

The resources I’m using for this study:

Grace Study Bible — Berean Bible Society (Grace)

King James Bible Commentary — Thomas Nelson Publishers (KJBC)

The Epistles of John: Light, Love, Life, by W.E. Vine — Zondervan Publishing House (Vine)

Williams’ Complete Bible Commentary, by George Williams — Kregel Publications (Williams)

When I quote from these works, I will use the word in the parentheses.