AUTHOR
New Testament scholar, Raymond Brown, once wrote the following about this letter… “This work, which was known already in the mid-second century, began to be treated as canonical Scripture toward the end of the second century when it was accepted as a writing of John, son of Zebedee.”
However, 2 John does not claim to be written by John, the disciple of Jesus. Rather, the author simply calls himself “the Presbyter” which many English versions translate as “the elder”. As far as we know, this letter did not receive the title “The Second Letter of John” until the fourth century.
The word “presbyter” could simply mean an old man. People in the first century thought of old age as beginning at about 40. “Presbyter” was also an official office in the early church. From this Greek word we get our more modern word “Presbyterian” which refers to a type of church ruled by elders. However, the author of this letter is not just “an elder” of a local church. He writes with authority from one church to another. He is “the elder”.
Many if not most New Testament scholars today believe there was a community that gathered around John the disciple of Jesus in the late first century and that this community was responsible for collecting, editing, and even writing the works we know as the Gospel of John, the Letters of John, and Revelation.
“The elder” may have been a title that the early church gave to the aging apostle John, or this title may refer to someone else in the early church. We do not know for certain.
DATE
This letter was probably written around the same time as 1 John, sometime in the last decade of the first century.
THEMES
We may not know much about the author of this letter, but we know even less about the recipient. The elder addresses this letter “to the lady chosen by God and to her children”. This could be a letter addressed, quite literally, to a Christian woman in the early church and to her physical children. However, it is more likely that by “chosen lady” the elder is referring to a church. And the children of this chosen lady are members of the church. At the end of the letter, the elder refers to the church where he is based as “the chosen sister”.
We cannot be sure where these churches were, but one of these churches may have been in Ephesus (along the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey). Ephesus came to be associated, at least in the mind of the Early Church, with John and the Johannine circle that surrounded him.
The church addressed by John may have been in a city either close to Ephesus or at a distance. Or the author of this letter and the recipients may have been part of two churches within the same large city. The population of Ephesus at this time was in the tens of thousands, or maybe even larger.
Why does the author of this letter refer to the recipients so cryptically? We do not know. But it could be that the author was writing during a time of danger for the early Christians, when the powers that be were threatening persecution to anyone who identified themselves as a follower of Jesus. It could be that the more the author of this letter made this correspondence look like a normal letter between family members, the safer they all would be.
In the Early Church, the work of traveling missionaries was vital. Also essential to the work of the Early Church, before there were church buildings, was the ministry of hospitality. If Christ followers did not take in the traveling missionaries and give them a place to stay, the work of the Gospel would have been thwarted.
But false teachers also traveled around and depended upon the hospitality of unsuspecting believers. 2 John is written to encourage discernment in the practice of hospitality so that believers would not unintentionally contribute to the spread of heresy.
STRUCTURE
2 John is truly a letter and as such has a very simple structure…
- Salutation (1-3)
- Commendation (4)
- Encouragement & Warning (5-11)
- Conclusion (12-13)
KEY CONCEPT: ABIDE
A key word that appears throughout the Johannine writings is the little Greek word: μένω. It is often translated as “abide”. It appears 118 times in the New Testament, 40 times in the Gospel of John, 24 times in 1 John, and 3 times in 2 John. The use of this word is one argument for a common author across all the Johannine books.
The author begins 2 John with these words:
The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth, for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.
So, 2 John talks about the truth abiding or living in us and being with us forever. And then in verse 9 we read…
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
So, we need to have the truth abiding in us. And how does that happen? It begins to happen when we abide in the teaching of Christ.
I have used the illustration before of a tea bag steeping in boiling water. The longer you leave the tea bag in the hot water, and move that tea bag around, the more the water changes flavor and color and fragrance. We need to have the truth of God steeping in us, and we need to steep ourselves in the teaching of Christ.
John draws this idea of “abiding” directly from Jesus. The Master’s classic teaching on abiding is in John 15…
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Jesus tells a story here about a vineyard. And it is helpful to remember when and where Jesus told this story. It was in Jerusalem on the Thursday night before Jesus went to the cross on Friday. Jesus shared a meal with his disciples, then they walked the streets of Jerusalem on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. It is likely that on this walk they passed the Temple. On the door of the Holy Place there was carved a great, golden vine. The vine had been a symbol of Israel for many years.
Now Jesus comes along and says that he is the true vine. This is really an astounding claim. Jesus is saying that he is the true Israel, and his Father is the gardener who cares for the vine. He tells us two things that his Father does as the Gardener.
First, Jesus says, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.” A better translation would be “He lifts up every branch…” In other words, the Father lifts up every branch that trails on the ground. He lifts up the trailing branches so they are closer to the sun and can produce better fruit. Thus, by analogy, the first thing the Father does for the person who is in Christ, attached to the vine, is to lift the Christian closer to himself.
The second thing that Jesus says the Father does is that “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” The Greek word that is used here for pruning means to cleanse, make clean, or purify. We get our English word “catharsis” from the Greek word used in this passage. The word indicates a cleansing of the vine from anything harmful to it such as insects or moss. No doubt pruning of the branches in the usual sense was also involved. Just so, the Father cleanses us of everything detrimental to our growth in Christ. He strips away anything that would hinder our fruitfulness in him.
The third point that Jesus makes in this passage has to do with the secret of fruitfulness. The secret is to abide in him. As branches, we must stay connected to the vine if we want to bear fruit. Notice, that is all we need to do: stay connected. The Father lifts us up. The Father cleanses us. All we need to do is abide in the vine.
Fruit bearing is not something we can work ourselves up to by our own power. Fruit bearing will come naturally if we stay connected to the vine.
I have heard it said that a vine must be cultivated for three years before it can produce good grapes. We had a friend who planted a vineyard in Virginia. For the first couple of years, it produced nothing of value. I have lost touch with that friend and so I don’t know how things went with his vineyard once we moved away from Virginia. But if the soil, nutrients, water and sunshine come to that vineyard in the right, healthy amounts, and if a careful gardener tends the vineyard, lifting up the vines and cleansing them of all growth impediments, then the vineyard will produce good grapes.
I don’t know much about gardening. But one thing I do know: if a branch is separated from the vine, then that branch will die.
Of course you and I are different from inanimate branches. We have a choice about whether we connect ourselves to Jesus in the first place through faith. And we have a choice about whether we remain connected to the vine that is Jesus or not. We can detach ourselves from Christ if we choose. If we do that, we will die spiritually, and one day, physically and permanently as well. Or we can choose to stay connected to the vine that is Jesus.
Jesus tells us two ways we can stay connected to him. One is through his word. The other is through prayer. The two activities are connected and meant to be inseparable. Listen again to what Jesus says: “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
How do we remain, abide, stay connected to Jesus? We do it through having his words remain in us. And how do we get his words into us? We can do it in many ways. We can listen to sermons about Jesus’ words. We can do it through listening to Jesus’ words in the Gospels. We can read those words. We can memorize those words. We can meditate on those words. We can study those words.
Jesus says, if we stay connected to him by his words remaining in us, steeping in us, then prayer (another major means of staying connected to him) will become effective. When we are abiding in Jesus and his words are abiding deep in our hearts, then we can ask him for anything we wish, and it will be given to us.
Does that mean we can ask for a Mercedes Benz? Yes. But if we are abiding in Jesus and his words are abiding in us then our heart will become entwined with his heart, and we will want only what Jesus wants for us. We will ask only for those things that are in line with Jesus’ kingdom purposes.
Henry Francis Lyte was a faithful pastor in a little fishing village in Devonshire, England, for 23 years, until 1847. Even though Henry had health problems, he worked hard serving his parish, taking care of his family, writing poems and hymns.
In 1844, Henry was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Over the next three years, his health deteriorated. On September 4, 1847, at the age of 54, he stood in the pulpit for what turned out to be the last time.
That afternoon, after taking a walk on the beach, Henry retired to his bedroom. He came out one hour later with a written copy of the words that would eventually be joined to music and become the hymn, Abide with Me. Henry left his home soon after that on a trip to Italy where he hoped that the warm weather would help his body to heal. While in route he sent a revised copy of the hymn to his wife. A few days later, he died. A fellow clergyman was with Henry at the end and reported that his last words were: “Peace! Joy!”
William H. Monk set the words of Abide with Me to music and the hymn made its debut at Henry Francis Lyte’s memorial service. The hymn went on to become popular in many Christian denominations. It was reported to have been a favorite of King George V and of Mahatma Gandhi. It was sung at the weddings of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. I have heard that Abide with Me is sung before the kick-off at every FA Cup Final and Rugby League, as well as various celebrations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Various recordings of the hymn have appeared in at least ten films and numerous television programs. Abide with Me has been sung by some of the greatest choirs in the world as well as such recording artists as diverse as Elton John and Mahalia Jackson.
Henry Francis Lyte not only wrote a hymn about Jesus abiding with us he also set a great example of someone abiding in Jesus himself. The result was exactly what Jesus promised: fruitfulness. May the Father produce the same kind of fruitfulness in unique ways through us as we abide in the One who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
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