3 John Commentary
Diotrephes doesn’t have the tag of the Anti-Christ but he is clearly behaving badly. Could he fall in the category of “sin which doesn’t lead to death”?
Gaius would be the opposite of Diotrephes. He welcomes the believers and helps them. There is a good testimony about him. This makes the great apostle happy; there is joy. A believer’s generosity flows into praise to the LORD and invites prayers for the believer.
Be generous and you won’t have to send requests to other believers for prayers. They pray for your well-being without invitation!
The love of God in the church is such that believers host strangers. They don’t expect any payback!
Underline the fact that saints don’t expect help from the pagans. And some believers may have little importance in the eyes of the pagans. It should be different in the church. They are important and deserve our maximum attention.
This small book answers the question that we all ask. Is calling out a wrong judging? At what point are you guilty of judging someone? John is full of joy because of Gaius’ love and service to the LORD. He also has great words for Demetrius. But Diotrephes is a bad egg. He must be straightened! John hasn’t judged Diotrephes.
But our hearts can easily rejoice because a brother has gone off. Then you know your evil heart has hit you hard. And when the emphasis is on your ‘right position’ as opposed to the brother’s wrong position, then you know you aren’t far from sin.
Here you can see the main point is a lack of God’s love for Diotrephes. It doesn’t have to do with a personal grievance against Diotrephes by John.
The book closes with personal greetings – to be delivered by name. Believers aren’t just a collection of people. They are individuals loved by God. He knows each person’s name!
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