The Third Epistle of John
3Jo 11 elder
See note 11 in 2 John.
3Jo 12 Gaius
Not the Gaius of Macedonia in Acts 19:29, nor the Gaius of Derbe in Acts 20:4, nor the Gaius of Corinth in 1 Cor. 1:14 and Rom. 16:23, but another named Gaius (the name was very common at that time). According to the contents of this Epistle, he must have been an outstanding brother in the church.
3Jo 1a beloved 3 John 2, 5, 11
3Jo 13c truthfulness 1 John 3:18
See note 13 in 2 John.
3Jo 21 all
According to the context of the verse, this refers to external and material things.
3Jo 22 wish
Probably in the sense of prayer.
3Jo 23 prosper
The Greek word means to go on well, as in a journey (Rom. 1:10). I.e., to succeed in reaching a desired end; thus, to prosper.
3Jo 24 health
Bodily health, as in Luke 5:31; 7:10; and 15:27.
3Jo 25 soul
Man is of three parts: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23 and note 5). The soul is the organ that mediates between the body and the spirit; it possesses self-consciousness, that man may have his personality. It is contained in the body and is the vessel to contain the spirit. As to the believer, God as the Spirit dwells in his regenerated spirit (Rom. 8:9, 16) and spreads from his spirit to saturate his soul that it may be transformed to express Him (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). This is the prosperity of the believer’s soul. When our soul is occupied and directed by the Spirit of God through our spirit so that it directs and uses our body for God’s purposes, it prospers. The apostle wished that the recipient, who was a beloved brother, outstanding in such a prosperity of his soul, might prosper in all things and in bodily health, just as his soul prospered in the divine life.
3Jo 31 rejoiced
See note 41 in 2 John.
3Jo 3a testifying 3 John 6, 12
3Jo 32 your
Lit., your truth. This is the truth concerning Christ, especially His deity (see note 15 in 2 John). By the revelation of this truth the recipient’s way of life was determined, and the recipient held to this truth as his fundamental belief. It is the objective truth that had become subjective in the recipient’s daily walk.
3Jo 33 walk
The recipient not only held to the truth but also walked and lived in the truth. The truth concerning the person of Christ should be not only our belief but also our living, a living that testifies to our belief.
3Jo 34 truth
See note 42 in 2 John 4.
3Jo 4a children 1 Cor. 4:14-15; 1 Thes. 2:11; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philem. 10
3Jo 4b truth cf. Prov. 23:23
3Jo 5b faithfully 1 Cor. 4:2
3Jo 51 whatever
Referring to the providing of hospitality (as taught by Paul in Rom. 12:13 and Heb. 13:2), the receiving of the brothers (vv. 7-8) who traveled for the gospel and the ministry of the word.
3Jo 52c strangers cf. Matt. 25:35
Most of the recipients of the hospitality were strangers, unacquainted with Gaius.
3Jo 61 love
In the past.
3Jo 62 church
The church where the apostle was.
3Jo 63 will
In the future. On one hand, the apostle praised Gaius for what he had done in receiving the traveling brothers in the past; on the other hand, he encouraged him to send them forward in the future.
3Jo 6b send 1 Cor. 16:6, 11
3Jo 64c worthy Col. 1:10; 1 Thes. 2:12; cf. Eph. 4:1; 2 Thes. 1:5, 11
The sending forward should be in a manner that matches God, who is generous, indicating that the sending forward must be with generosity.
3Jo 71a Name John 15:21; Acts 4:10; 9:28; 16:18; 19:17
The exalted and glorious name of the wonderful Christ (Phil. 2:9 and note 3; Acts 5:41; James 2:7).
3Jo 72 Gentiles
The pagans, who have nothing to do with God’s move on this earth to carry out His economy. If anyone who works for God’s New Testament economy receives help for God’s work, especially financial support, from the unbelievers, this is a shame and even an insult to God. In the apostle’s time, the brothers who worked for God took nothing from the pagans.
3Jo 81 support
The Greek word is made up of two words: under and to take; thus, to take up (from underneath), that is, to undertake, to sustain, to support. We, the believers, including the apostle, ought to support and undertake for the needs of the brothers who work for God in His divine truth and who take nothing from the Gentiles.
3Jo 8a fellow Phil. 2:25; 4:3
3Jo 82 truth
Denoting the revealed divine reality as the contents of the New Testament, according to the apostles’ teaching concerning the Divine Trinity, especially the person of the Lord Jesus, for God’s economy. All the apostles and faithful brothers worked for this.
3Jo 91 church
Of which Gaius was a member.
3Jo 92 Diotrephes
The Greek word is made up of of Zeus (Zeus was the chief of the gods in the Greek pantheon) and to nourish; hence, Zeus-nourished. This indicates that Diotrephes, a professing Christian, never dropped his pagan name, contrary to the practice of the early believers, who took a Christian name at their baptism. According to history, he advocated the Gnostic heresy, which blasphemed the person of Christ. It is no wonder that he mingled with the believers as one who loved to be first among them.
3Jo 93 to
This is against the words of the Lord in Matt. 20:25-27 and 23:8-11, which keep all His believers on the same level, that of brothers. In 2 John 9 the Cerinthian Gnostics took the lead to advance in doctrine beyond the teaching concerning Christ. Here in 3 John 9 is one who was under the influence of Gnostic heretical doctrine and loved to be first in the church. The former was a matter of intellectual arrogance; the latter, of self-exaltation in one’s actions. These two evils are sharp weapons used by God’s enemy, Satan, to execute his evil plot against God’s economy. One damages the believers’ faith in the divine reality; the other frustrates the believers’ work in God’s move.
3Jo 9a first cf. Matt. 23:6; Mark 12:38-39; Luke 11:43; 20:46
3Jo 94 receive
I.e., receive hospitably.
3Jo 101 babbling
The Greek word is derived from a word meaning to boil over, to overflow with words, to talk idly; hence, to babble, to speak folly or nonsense.
3Jo 102 evil
The Greek word means pernicious, as in 1 John 5:19 (see note 4 there).
3Jo 10a casts cf. John 9:22, 34
3Jo 11a imitate 1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1
3Jo 111b evil 1 Pet. 3:11; Psa. 34:14; 37:27; Isa. 1:16-17
The Greek word means worthless, wicked, depraved.
3Jo 112 does
The Greek word means to be a well-doer (as a favor or a duty), practicing good; hence, to do good.
3Jo 113 of
Lit., out of (see note 191 in 1 John 5). God is the source of good. A well-doer, a doer of good, is one who is out of God and who belongs to God (cf. 1 John 3:8).
3Jo 114 does
The Greek word means to be an evildoer, practicing evil; hence, to do evil.
3Jo 115d not 1 John 3:6
An evildoer not only is not out of God but has not even seen God.
3Jo 121 Demetrius
Demetrius, who might have been one of the brothers who traveled in working for the Lord (vv. 5-8), perhaps was the one who bore this Epistle to Gaius. Hence, it was necessary that he receive a favorable and strong commendation from the writer.
3Jo 122 all
This indicates that Demetrius must have been a brother working among the churches, and thus was well known.
3Jo 123 truth
The revealed truth of God as the reality of the essence of the Christian faith (see note 66 in 1 John 1). This truth is the divine rule for the walk of all believers, and by it the believers’ walk is determined. Thus, it gives good testimony to him who walks in it, as it did to Demetrius.
3Jo 124 we
The apostle John and his associates.
3Jo 125b true John 19:35; 21:24
The Greek word (an adjective akin to truth (reality)—cf. note 205 in 1 John 5) means genuine, real; hence, true.
3Jo 141a hope 2 John 12
See note 121 in 2 John.
3Jo 142 face
Lit., mouth to mouth.
3Jo 14b friends John 11:11