Bible Commentaries
3 John

When we come to Third John we come to a little book that has some distinctions. It is the shortest book in the New Testament and the only book in the New Testament that does not mention Christ.^(F1) However, it probably does refer to the Master.

This little book, even more than Second John, gives us a peek into the everyday workings of the early church. Like Second John, it gives us additional insight regarding the Christian virtue of hospitality and how that gift is to be administered and even limited in certain cases.

The London commentator, John Stott, suggests that the two letters should be read together if we are to gain a balanced understanding of this subject.^(F2) Both of these short letters are dealing with the matter of itinerant teachers and their treatment.

Third John is probably the clearest example of how New Testament epistles closely followed the pattern of secular letters in the First Century. The Scottish biblical master, William Barclay, gives us a letter from the period. It is from a certain Irenaeus to his brother Apolinarius and it begins in much the pattern of this epistle. It reads, "Irenaeus to Apolinarius…my greetings. Continually I pray that you may be in health, even as I myself am in health…"^(F3) Barclay notes that most letters of this period followed this pattern – the greeting, a prayer for good health, and followed by the main body and then by the final greeting. The ancient pattern seems somewhat advanced over our plain old "Dear John" headings of today or of our sloppy email headings of "Hi" or worse. Unlike Second John, this short letter mentions actual people, Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius.

This tiny epistle was also written by the Elder, and most commentators feel that it is the Apostle John himself. This letter, like the others of John, was probably written from Ephesus around AD 90. Although we know the name of the person who actually received the letter, still we do not know the actual church or the geographic area to which it was sent.