The Third Epistle Of John

Who is the Author?

There is little evidence for the use of 3 John before the third century. The brevity and lack of a specific address of the letter may have contributed to its neglect. Eusebius classified the letter among the disputed writings of the New Testament, but the church came to accept it as a product of the apostle John. The use of the term “elder,” as in 2 John, makes it likely that both writings came from the same writer. Both letters also refer to the practice of walking in the truth (2 John 4; 3 John 3). These similarities, along with the opinion of early Christian leaders, make acceptance of apostolic authorship the wisest choice.1 As in 2 John, the writer called himself simply “the elder.” This probably suggests not only his seniority (presbyteros means “old man”) but also his authority as an eyewitness to the life of Christ. The style of the epistle is the same as that of 1 and 2 John, and efforts to deny a single author producing all three have little conviction. We can thus readily accept the ancient opinion that the apostle John wrote all three letters. The arguments that support apostolic authorship of 1 John carry over to this tiny epistle because of the clear stylistic ties. In addition, the self-confident authority of the writer of 3 John (cf. v. 10) also befits an apostle.2

When John and his brother James, the sons of Zebedee, began to follow Jesus, they were apparently quite young and enthusiastic. Once when the disciples were passing through Samaria on the way to Jerusalem, James and John went on ahead to find lodging in a village. When the Samaritans, who hated the Jews as much as they were hated by the Jews, learned that the party was traveling to Jerusalem, they refused them shelter. Furious, James and John confronted Jesus. “Lord,” they asked, “do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). Their nickname was appropriate: “Thunderers.” Another time the disciples saw a man driving out demons in Jesus’s name, but the man was not one of their company. “We tried to stop him,” John reported, “because he was not following us” (Mark 9:38). John was again corrected by Jesus because his zeal had missed the spirit of his Master. A final Gospel incident (Matt. 20:20–28) completes John’s portrait. He and his brother whisper privately to their mother. Shortly after, she approaches Jesus. Could the places of authority at Jesus’s right and left hand be reserved for her sons when the Lord takes power in his kingdom? Jesus explained to the mother and her two sons that he did not have the authority to grant such a request. Later, the other disciples heard of the pair’s attempt to gain advantage, and they reacted with understandable anger. Then Jesus explained to the Twelve that greatness in his kingdom is not found in authority but in servanthood, a servanthood far removed from the self-concerned attitude of James and John.3 But when we come to John’s writings, we meet a different man—a man whose favorite word was love, a man who was gentle, so selfless that he hardly mentioned himself or his feelings, except as they related to the needs of the men and women to whom he ministered. We meet a man who was transformed, who demonstrated in his own personality the Bible promise that we can be changed by beholding Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). John emphasized the love Jesus had for him even in the days before he matured; thus, he calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved."4