PERSONAL CONFIDENCES AND KINDLY WARNINGS
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
3 John 1:1. The elder.—It cannot be decided whether this was a recognised official title, or an allusion by St. John to his great age. The fact that St. Peter calls himself “a fellow-presbyter” (1 Peter 5:1) favours the idea that the title is official; and the Jewish Christian communities were likely to call their officials “elders,” after the pattern of the synagogue elders. Gaius.—Or Caius. This man cannot be confidently indentified with any person previously mentioned (Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4; Romans 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14); but the Gaius mentioned in Romans 16:23 is commended for the hospitality which St. John also praises in his Gaius. In the truth.—Not merely, “whom I truly love,” but, “whom I love with Christian love.” There is love we have for persons for their own sakes, and love we have for them as brethren in Christ Jesus.
3 John 1:2. Above all things.—Concerning all things περὶ πάντων. περί gives the notion, “before, on all sides, at every point.” In all respects. Prosper.—In circumstances. In health.—Of body. St. John desires the “all round “blessing of this good man—God’s hand upon him for good, in his soul, his body, and his relations. A model of Christian wishes for friends. Soul prospereth.—Notice that of his spiritual health St. John was well assured, but concerning his health and business successes he seems to have had no definite information.
3 John 1:3. Truth that is in thee.—It was not merely that the conduct and relations of Gaius were rightly toned; it was that they were manifestly inspired by Christian principles and Christian feeling. The truth was in him, and therefore there could be all these kindly and gracious expressions. There was consistency because there was reality.
3 John 1:4. No greater joy.—μειζοτέραν. A double comparative. Compare the English word lesser. It may be used to gain intensity, or it may be a mere irregularity. Children.—St. John’s affectionate term for the members of the Churches, many of whom regarded him as their spiritual father.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 3 John 1:1-4
A Pastor’s Joy in His People.—This finds expression in two very suggestive and striking figures of speech: “Even as thy soul prospereth”; “Walkest in the truth.”
I. Soul-prosperity.—What he means may be illustrated by enlarging his sentence: “I wish for you that your soul may prosper and be in health, even as I wish that your body may prosper and be in health.” We cannot think of God without the mental help derived from the forms of humanity; and we cannot think of the soul save as shaped as a sort of counterpart of the body. And its full health and ideal perfection are conceived by us with the help of bodily conditions.
1. What then are the marks of a prosperous soul? That soul is prosperous in which—
(1) The truth dwells richly.
(2) The doctrinal and practical parts of religion are well proportioned and united.
(3) There is a happy mixture of the retired and the active.
(4) There is a good degree of public spirit and largeness of heart.
(5) There is no wrong ambition.
2. Why does prosperity of soul render temporal prosperity desirable?
(1) Because it makes temporal prosperity safe.
(2) Because it secures the welfare of others, and promotes the general good. (Part from A. Fuller.)
II. Walking in the truth.—This properly includes two things:
1. The knowledge of the outward substantial body of truth—the gospel of the grace of God, and of Jesus as our Saviour.
2. A heartfelt possession and enjoyment of the truth, not merely in the intellect, but also in the heart.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
3 John 1:2. Soul-prosperity.—John makes soul-prosperity the standard and rule of prayer for other things. This would be a dreadful rule with regard to many. Such praying, if answered, would ruin them. Yes, if they were to prosper in temporal things as they prosper in spiritual, they would become the poorest, meanest wretches on earth, for they are strangers to everything like the “true riches”; and if their bodies were to be as healthful as their souls, their dwelling would become an hospital, their bed of ease a bed of languishing: they would be blind, for they have no spiritual understanding; deaf, for they never bear the voice of God; dead, for the Spirit of the living God is not in them. Yet this seems to be the only safe rule; for unless religion keeps pace with our outward prosperity, our safety and welfare will be endangered by it. We are not afraid when we see Christians succeed in life, if at the same time they “grow in grace”; but the peril is, when there is so much sail and so little ballast.—W. Jay.
3 John 1:3. Gaius.—The sincere and generous host of Demetrius, the quiet but sturdy opponent of the intolerance and tyranny of Diotrephes. Gaius was one who “walked in truth,” and so walked in it that men “bore witness to his truth.” The Greek word means “reality.” Gaius was a true man, a genuine man, a real man, whose life was all of one piece, whose daily conduct was the practical outcome and inference from the truths he believed. Evidently he cared more for deeds than for words. He would not bring the spirit and methods of the world into the Church. Nor would he, as a true man, yield to that still more subtle and fatal temptation by which those are overcome in whom religion degenerates into mere ecclesiasticism or sectarianism. From all these faults and errors Gaius was free. Of an incorrigible and losing honesty, it was his distinction that he was in the truth, and that he was walking, i.e. growing and advancing, in the truth of Christ; that the truth was making him true—true in thought, in motive, in word, in deed, insomuch that, when the eye saw him, it bore witness to him. The charity of Gaius was as conspicuous as his unworldliness. He not only received the strangers, but continued to receive and serve them, even when Diotrephes forbad him, and had persuaded the Church to excommunicate those who ventured to receive them. He could do no other; for he walked in truth. He believed that all who were in Christ were his brethren, even though they were strangers to him; and he was bound to treat them as his brethren, even though for being true to his convictions he was cut off from the body of Christ. A certain genuineness and wholeness, then, a certain staunchness and loyalty, combined with great breadth and tolerance, seems to have been characteristic of the hospitable and kindly Gaius. He was in the truth. He walked in truth. He could be true to truth, come whence it would. He could be true to men, even when they were reviled and thrust out of the Church. In fine, he was a man who stood on his own feet, used his own eyes, and was faithful to the inspirations of the Divine Comforter and Guide who had taken up His abode with him. This large, steadfast, yet gentle loyalty to truth is as essential to a genuine, a real and strong, Christian character now as it was then. The discipline of life, and the advantages and privileges of the Christian life, have been wasted on us, if, whatever our gifts or our lack of them, whatever our opportunities or our lack of them, we have not built up for ourselves, or are not building up, such a character as this; if, whether we do, or do not, strive and cry, and cause our name to be heard in the streets, there is no quiet sanctuary within our souls, from which a light is sometimes seen, and prayers and songs are sometimes heard, and a hallowed influence constantly proceeds, to prove, to all who are capable of receiving proof, that Christ has an altar and a throne within us, and is the true Lord and Ruler of our life. If we are really walking in the truth, we must in various methods, some of them very quiet and simple, but not therefore the less effective, bear witness to the truth which guides and shapes our ways.—S. Cox, D.D.
3 John 1:4. Saving a Prodigal Child: a Tradition concerning St. John.—Tradition has been more than ordinarily busy in preserving anecdotes of St. John. Eusebius relates a beautiful, and not improbable, story to this effect: John, on a visit to a city in the neighbourhood of Ephesus, commended to the care of the bishop a young man of fine stature, graceful countenance, and ardent mind, as suited to the work of the ministry. The bishop neglected his charge. The young man became idle and dissolute, and was at length prevailed on to join a band of robbers, such as commonly had their holds in the neighbourhood of ancient Greek cities. He soon became their captain, and attained to eminence in crime. Long after, John entered the city again, and inquired for the young man. “He is dead,” said the bishop—“dead to God.” Having ascertained the particulars, the apostle exclaimed, “I left a fine keeper of a brother’s soul”; then, mounting a horse, he rode into the country, and was taken prisoner. He attempted not to flee, but said, “For this purpose I am come; conduct me to your captain.” He entered the presence of the armed bandit, who, recognising the apostle, attempted to escape. “Why dost thou fly, my son,” said he, “from thy father—thy defenceless, aged father. Fear not; thou still hast hopes of life. I will pray to Christ for thee. I will suffer death for thee. I will give my life for thine. Believe that Christ hath sent me.” The man was subdued, fell into the apostle’s arms, prayed with many tears, became perfectly reformed, and was restored to the communion of the Church.