New Testament · General Letters
Two men, two ways, Gaius the hospitable, Diotrephes who loved to be first.
The shortest book in the Bible, and the most ordinary, which is precisely its interest: it is a glimpse of church life as administration and personality. Three men are named. Gaius is commended for supporting travelling missionaries. Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, refuses to welcome them, talks nonsense about the writer, and throws out anyone who tries. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone. There is no doctrine under dispute here at all; the problem is a man who will not share authority, and the letter's promise to bring it up when he visits is left hanging. It ends, as 2 John does, with a preference for talking in person over writing.
If you remember one thing
The shortest book in the Bible, and its subject is a church problem anyone would recognize: a man who liked being in charge.
“I have no greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth.”
3 John 4
3 John 9-10
A named church leader refusing hospitality and expelling those who offer it. The letter records the conflict without resolving it, which is unusually candid.
Named here rather than skipped. Where Christians read a passage differently, we say so instead of choosing for you.
Everyone here has a write-up, drawn from the same records that explain the names while you read the text.
A fisherman called with his brother James, part of the inner three, and traditionally the author of the fourth Gospel, three letters, and Revelation. The Gospel calls him the disciple Jesus loved and places him at the cross, entrusted with Jesus' mother.
The whole book, with the people and places explained as you read. Available in WEB and KJV. Chapters marked ✦ carry a verse the New Testament takes up.
A quiz for 3 John is on the workbench. In the meantime, the games for the judges, the kings, and the prophets are open.
