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41 lines
3.4 KiB
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# Introduction to 3 John
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## Overview
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There are three letters John wrote that are in Scripture. Some scholars think that each letter was written to the same church over a period of time. They think John heard about the church, then wrote a letter. After a while, he heard about the church again and wrote a letter. Then, he heard about the church and wrote this letter. In his first letter, John told the Christians to reject the things that the false teachers taught. Some people did not obey the things that John taught. Therefore, John told the Christians not to welcome or be friends with the false teachers. In this letter, John wanted Gaius to welcome Demetrius. This is because another church leader refused to welcome Demetrius and other people who were visiting the church.
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In his first letter, John wanted Christians to welcome other people who visited their church. However, the Christians welcomed false teachers. Therefore, John told them not to be friends with the false teachers in the same way they were friends with other Christians.
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Then in his second letter, John told the Christians to reject the false teachers. They were also to separate themselves from these false teachers. However, these Christians stopped being friends with anyone they did not know. In his third letter, John wanted the Christians to welcome other Christians they did not know.
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Fewer scholars think that John wrote each letter to a different church. However, they still think that John wrote this letter to tell some Christians to welcome other Christians who they did not know.
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### Who wrote this letter?
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The “elder (πρεσβύτερος/g4245)” wrote this letter. This means that the author was old or was a leader within the church. However, the name of the author is not in this letter. In the Ancient Near East, a person could be considered “old” after they were 40 years of age. Most scholars think the apostle John wrote this book. Scholars think that the apostle John lived to be very old, perhaps 90 years of age. Also, John wrote many of the same things in this letter and the gospel of John.
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See: [Ancient Near East](../articles/ancientneareast.md)
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### Who did John write to?
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This letter was written to Gaius. Scholars do not know much about this man. He is not written about anywhere else in Scripture. John loved him. John could have also written to Diotrephes and Demetrius. This is because John also wrote about them. Like 2 John, John also wrote this letter to help a certain church.
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### What did John write about in his letter?
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#### Helping people who are away from their home
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In the Ancient Near East, it was important for a person to be friends with anyone who was away from their home. A person was to help these people if they needed to be helped. However, John did not want Christians to help false teachers.
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See: [Ancient Near East](../articles/ancientneareast.md)
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### Why did John write this letter?
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John wanted to tell Gaius what to do. This is why he wrote this letter. Scholars also think that a certain false teacher was about to lead Gaius’ church. They think that John wanted to stop this because Diotrephes did not honor God and he did not help the church. Because of this, they were not able to help certain Christian teachers who visited them.
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## Outline of 3 John
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1. Introduction (1:1)
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1. Helping people (1:2-8)
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1. Diotrephes and Demetrius (1:9-12)
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1. Conclusion (1:13-14)
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