BEMA 172: 3 John — Diotrephes

Transcription Status

17 Mar 24 — Initial public release

12 Dec 23 — Transcript approved for release

3 John — Diotrephes

Brent Billings: This is The BEMA Podcast with Marty Solomon. I’m his co-host, Brent Billings. Today, we take a brief but meaningful and reflective journey through the short letter of 3 John, hearing the apostle warn the church about those who are trying to discredit and dismantle the faith.

Marty Solomon: Alright. We’ve finally come to our short letter of 3 John.

Brent: [sarcasm] Finally! Everyone’s been waiting.

Marty: This is the book. It’s a shame to view books that way, but it’s probably an accurate perception. I’ve not waited to hear a 3 John sermon. I have not gotten any emails about 3 John. “Marty, can you just tell me about 3 John?” No. We’ve finally come here, though, and we see through a study of these letters that John has a group of disciples that he is sending out to do teaching among the churches. I mentioned a couple episodes ago, some scholars have even suggested it’s those disciples who penned these three letters of John.

I disagree with that assessment, but it does provide some explanation as to why the author of 2 and 3 John calls himself the elder. We’re going to hear that again here in just a moment. “The elder.” Of course, this title would be more fitting for John himself, but I digress. Go ahead, Brent, and give us the opening few verses.

Brent: Well, and I’m trying to jump us ahead to Session 5 again a little bit, but I’m—I’m pretty sure that 2 and 3 John were both like last letters in the door for the canon pretty much.

Marty: You might be right about that. Yes. I don’t remember. That’s not as fresh in my memory, but that would not surprise me.

Brent: Yes.

Marty: Was Jude in that group too?

Brent: I think so. I think 2 and 3 John and Jude were all, like, barely made it in the door before they closed it on the canon.

Marty: Right. That might give some of those scholastic opinions maybe a little bit more credence, but yes, you’re right. Give us a reading.

Brent: Of course, everything is debated.

Marty: Everything, always, absolutely, all the time.

Brent: The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Marty: Sounds a little similar to the last letter, yes? Walking in the truth.

Brent: A little bit. Still looking for that love.

Marty: Okay. Penning the letter from Ephesus—seems to be where John’s at—John writes about how his disciples have returned. It could be other believers, doesn’t have to be disciples. Scholarship’s reading into that a little bit, but other believers, whoever, somebody has returned and told of the love and hospitality that they received from Gaius. John encourages him to continue walking in this truth. Note, again, how the idea of truth is attached to the idea of loving others. Without loving others, there is no truth, only falsehood.

Love is what makes truth—well, the truth, I feel like I’m going to be doubling down on this idea quite a bit here in this little episode today, but I just feel like it’s such a good thing to just, it’s a place where I’m going to plant my flag. I’m going to put my stake in the ground and say, “Dang, this is a big idea for me. If it’s not love, it just ain’t truth.” We’ve got that backwards so badly, I feel like. I’ll get off my soapbox, Brent, and let you keep reading the Bible.

Brent: Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you, they have told the church about your love.

Marty: There you go, Brent.

Brent: Or John, and I’m sure we have Johns listening.

Marty: We have Johns, we have Brents, we have everybody.

Brent: Please, send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the name that they went out receiving no help from the pagans. We ought, therefore, to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

Marty: Alright. Notice the use of the phrase ‘for the sake of the name’. Is that ringing any bells for you, Brent?

Brent: I mean, we’ve talked about the name before.

Marty: Oh, we have, we’ve talked about “the name.” Can you think of a Bible character that did anything about the name? He holied the name…?

Brent: David.

Marty: David, right. Back in our story of David, we spoke of the phrase in the rabbinic Judaism, rendered in the Hebrew kiddush haShem, to hallow or sanctify the name, to sanctify the name. We talked about that back at David. David was a king after God’s own heart. David was a king who, in our words, we said sought to kiddush haShem. He wasn’t perfect. He had all kinds of things. He did wrong, all kinds of things that he dealt with in his humanity. The one thing that marked David as a ruler, something unique, a different kind of leader, a different kind of king, a different kind of dictator, a different kind of Monarch, is he was somebody who was going to kiddush haShem. He was going to hallow and sanctify the name. We’re going to, I think, link that podcast down on the show notes.

Brent: I certainly can. We talked about it in Episode 39.

Marty: Episode… Session 2, right?

Brent: Yes. Session 2.

Marty: Session 2, episode 39, you said?

Brent: The numbers—the episode numbers span the sessions, so the session is not really that important.

Marty: This is true, but in my mind, it’s how it’s packaged in my brain.

Brent: Indeed. It is a Session 2 episode.

Marty: That is correct. I refuse to let it go. I don’t care how we list it on iTunes. I refuse to let go of the concept of sessions.

Brent: Nevermind. We don’t need to get into the technicalities of how iTunes works.

[laughter]

Marty: This idea continues to live into the New Testament. This kiddush haShem. It’s not just an Old Testament concept, not just David. It’s actually not even a—it’s a more modern rabbinical phrase. It’s not even in the Scriptures in that sense, but this idea, we could continue to follow at the end of the New Testament where John tells Gaius to continue in his ways of love and hospitality, because it is here where we find a life that truly does kiddush haShem. It’s here that we’re going to find—it’s when we love and show hospitality to others, that’s how we sanctify the name. This fits everything that Jesus said. It’s when we love others that we’re going to hallow the name of God.

Brent: I notice that it’s kind of like they establish—Gaius’s love is established in the church.

Marty: Absolutely.

Brent: Then, at the end of that section, it’s like, “Hey, we need to continue doing this love and hospitality so that we may work together for the truth.” The truth is not as established.

Marty: Sure, right.

Brent: It’s like we’re working toward the truth, but we establish the love first.

Marty: Right. Yes. That’s a great point. It’s coming from somebody who—this isn’t just a good week. He didn’t just have a good week. This is who Gaius is, and he’s rooted in this community. This is the part that he plays. It’s overflowing and it’s trickling out, but it’s kind of contagious. It’s like a seed planted in a field. It’s like leaven put in a lump of dough, three measures of dough, three seahs of dough, if you will. This is what the Kingdom has always looked like, from Genesis all the way through Jesus’s parables, and now lived out through people like Gaius. Go ahead and give us some more, Brent.

Brent: I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. When I come, I will call attention to what he’s doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

Marty: Alright. First off, can we just acknowledge that the first-century apostolic church are the same kind of buttheads that we have in the church today? [laughter]. Can we just get that on the table? Man. They’ve just been—they’ve been around forever.

Brent: Is that the official church term?

Marty: Yes. That’s the one the Holy Spirit gave me in the moment where I was trying to decide just how ‘almost cursing’ I wanted to be, and that’s where we landed. Alright. There we go. The stuff that we experience in churches today, it’s been going on since the very, very beginning. Notice this Diotrephes character. Notice, what it is that he won’t do. What is the thing he won’t engage in, Brent?

Brent: Hospitality.

Marty: Hospitality, like—it’s the love. Yes, it’s a point that he won’t let John be heard and all that kind of stuff, but he makes a point of referencing the fact he won’t welcome other believers, let alone non-believers. He stops those who want to welcome other believers. This is the problem. He even puts them out of the church.

Brent: About as close to the anti-story as you can get.

Marty: Right. Not everybody is practicing this hospitality. There’s a member of the community there refusing to welcome others, particularly John’s disciples, it seems like. In this, he’s acting like the pagans that you mentioned before in your previous reading. This is a defining characteristic that sets believers apart from pagans, hospitality. Hospitality, even goes back to Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t even the pagans do that? Of course, you would love your friends. Don’t even the pagans do that? I’m telling you to love your enemies. This is the defining characteristic of all believers. This is different from what it means to be pagan. Hospitality. It’s interesting to note that Diotrephes—did you do any word search on that, Brent? Did you see what his name meant?

Brent: Oh, I did not.

Marty: Alright. His name means ‘loved by Jupiter’ in the Greek. Diotrephes, loved by Jupiter. Could it be that he’s having a hard time letting go of some past pagan ways? I don’t know.

Brent: What is Jupiter all about?

Marty: Jupiter is the Roman version of Zeus, chief of all gods, just below Caesar, Caesar’s going to like—Caesar is Caesar, but Caesar is going to closely, closely, closely tie himself to Jupiter. Usually, the temple to Caesar will be the temple to Jupiter, or those things will be connected and related. Jupiter being the chief of all the seven stars. You’ve got the sun, whatever, but Jupiter is that chief god in their mind. Yes, could be some context or maybe some of this pagan history. I don’t know. That’s a stretch. That’s arbitrary. We don’t know that for a fact. How about you close out the letter for us, Brent?

Brent: We don’t even know that the person’s name is actually Diotrephes.

Marty: Sure. That’s a great point.

Brent: That could just be—it’s like, “Hey, we all know who we’re talking about here.” It’s the one who—

Marty: It’s the Jupiter-lover. He’s got all the Jupiter posters on his bedroom wall.

Brent: Yes [laughs]. Finishing up here. Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone, and even by the truth itself.

Marty: Notice a difference in names? Not Diotrephes, but…?

Brent: Demetrius.

Marty: I used to get those mixed up in Bible college all the time. Diotrephes, bad guy, Demetrius, good guy.

Brent: That’s such an interesting—“Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone and even by the truth itself.” I don’t know what to think about that. It’s interesting. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. I have much to write to you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face-to-face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings, greet the friends there by name.

Marty: Apparently, John feels the same way about writing letters as I do about phone calls. Just get in here and get this thing done. I have more to say, but I can’t do it here.

Brent: I have so much to call you about, but I don’t want to call you on the phone.

Marty: [laughs] Yes. I don’t want to talk on the phone. “Will deal with them when I see them in person.” Gaius is not alone. Those who follow God rarely are, by the way. It’s a good little point of pause for your notes. Gaius is not alone.

Brent: [crosstalk] A little call back to Elijah there.

Marty: Oh, ah! Great reference! Good work, Brent. Gaius is not alone, those who follow God rarely are. Demetrius is also a fellow worker who has a reputation of generosity, love, and hospitality. The letter of 3 John always serves as a reminder to me of a couple realities. First, there have always been, and always will be people who oppose the work of the Gospel and are called to be people of love in the world. For whatever reason, and they’ll even do it under the banner of the church, they’ll do it with a Jesus t-shirt on. They’ll do it while they sing worship songs, for whatever reason, and there are often many reasons, there are those who stand opposed to work that would kiddush haShem.

Second, this letter reminds me, yet again, that the way of truth is not truth because some abstract, absolute truth exists somewhere out there in some platonic world. The way of truth is truth because it’s the way of what, Brent?

Brent: Love.

Marty: It’s the way of love. I know it’s very popular. I’m going to double down on this yet one more time. Get my last statement in here before we’re done. It’s very popular to say that truth without love isn’t truth, and love without truth isn’t love. That may be true, but the Bible does not teach this idea directly. Yet, the idea is undeniably evident, especially in the writings of John, that love is a foundational element, and you will find truth within love. Love always has truth in it. If you have love, there’s always truth in it. If you have truth but don’t have love, it ain’t true. It’s according to John—take it up with him.

Brent: Alright. Another short episode.

Marty: Hey, a little bit longer than the last one, though?

Brent: Barely.

Marty: Barely.

Brent: We’ll see what happens.

Marty: To the edits, it won’t be that way.

Brent: Alright, well, if you have any questions, go to bemadiscipleship.com. Be sure to get in touch with us and check out our groups page there. If you’ve made it this far, and you haven’t joined a discussion group, you should check that out. See if there’s one in your area. If there’s not, you can even start one, we’ll help you do that. There’s a guide on the website, all sorts of groups all over the place, and you can never have enough community around you to wrestle with these ideas of love and truth. Obviously, love and truth.

Marty: Excellent.

Brent: One last little jab there for it.

Marty: Love it.

Brent: Alright. Thanks for joining us on The BEMA Podcast. We will talk to you again soon.