COMMENTARY ON THIRD JOHN

Commentary on Third John



Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion3

Analysis of Letter5

Conclusion11

References12

Commentary on Third John

Introduction

The Third Epistle of John is often written as Third John and is a book among the various titles of the New Testament written solely about John the Evangelist. Although traditionally known to be authored y John himself, it was also contributed upon by the two epistles of John. This particular one may be among the shortest books in the bible. In this book, there are few verses and they relate to the letter that was composed by John to Gaius in order to commend and appreciate the group of Christians that were led by Demetrius. The party had been strangers in the native land and had gone especially for the purpose of preaching to the natives the Gospel. In the letter, the original purpose had been to encourage as well as fortify Gaius in his attempt to lead the party. It was also written to warn him of the rival party led by Diotrephes who had at the time refused to be cooperative with the author. In this paper I will be attempting to analyze this particular letter as well as its impact in the timeline of Third John's life as explained in the New Testament.

Discussion

In the New Testament, the same name is used in order to relate to the addressee when the letter of Gaius is mentioned. Therefore the audience can figure out whether the Gaius mentioned by 2 John is the same as that mentioned further on in the Testament in different contexts. Macedoniaas has a mention of a Christian Gaius where the story relates him as a traveler alongside Paul and Aristarchus (Acts 19:29). Another mention is is in the next chapter, where an individual called Gaius hailing from Derbe is mentioned, again as one of the traveling companions of Paul himself. In the stories of Corinth, Gaius is once more mentioned as one among a small group of people who were baptized by Paul himself. The church in the city is also built by Paul and Gaius is mentioned as one of the people who help in its enactment. In the Epistle to the Romans, Gaius is mentioned as the host of Paul and is a significant part of the greeting part of it. IT is suspected that the language used in the Third John and related Johannine tests, as well as pastoral concerns and conciseness of these texts is reminiscent of 2 John, thus forming a somewhat similar theme and purpose. In both these texts, the author is identified as “the Elder” and this figure is generally assumed to be John the Presyter. Of course there are several distinctions allowed in the analysis that can help discern John the Presyter with John the Evangelic of the Council of Rome.

The letters seen in Third John have been thoroughly analyzed through advanced scientific means and have known to be originated from the mid first ...