What are John’s epistles about? Well, as I mentioned in my study on John’s second epistle, they are all about fellowship: fellowship with God (1John); the wrong kind of fellowship (2John); and the kind of fellowship Christians should have with one another (3John). John’s third epistle is about overcoming peer-pressure. We are presented with four characters: the Elder, the one who writes the letter; Gaius, the letter’s recipient and the one who has the reputation of acting contrary to peer-pressure; Diotrephes, the dangerous character who is applying the peer-pressure; and Demetrius, who is probably the letter-carrier and perhaps the answer to the peer-pressure problem, or, in other words, he may be Diotrephes’ replacement, but this, admittedly, is conjecture. Nonetheless, it does fit the context.
The author of all three epistles is, in fact, anonymous. He appears to be one of Jesus’ original disciples, according to the introduction of John’s first epistle, and church tradition makes him John, the Apostle of Jesus, but at the end of the day, this is merely guessing. The two small epistles identifies him as the Elder (3John 1:1). It is a self designation, and one has to wonder why he chose to be identified in this way. The elders, of course are church leaders for the local bodies of believers throughout the world, but some were, perhaps more important because of the importance of the city, like Jerusalem was in the first century AD (Acts 11:30). Peter, who wrote to the elders throughout the Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, identified himself as an elder (1Peter 1:1, 5:1), and he wrote from Jerusalem, spiritual Babylon (1Peter 5:13).
The Elder of John’s epistles seems to have a place of prominence within the church as a whole body. He calls himself the Elder, as though he were the only one or perhaps the most important or most authoritative one. If this seems logical and true, why might that be? Keep in mind we are only guessing here, but we are trying to guess according to the context. There are seven writers of the New Covenant Scriptures (The Gospel of Mark being Peter’s Gospel penned by Mark), and together they comprise the valid witness of the Lord to mankind (Revelation 11:3; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). At some point during the preaching of these witnesses they would have been killed by their enemies.
We have the testimony of Clement of Rome in his first epistle that both Peter and Paul were slain at Rome,[1] and this was done during Nero’s reign. James, the brother of the Lord and writer of the Epistle of James, was stoned at Jerusalem, according to Josephus, the Jewish historian, not long after Paul was sent to Rome to plead his case before Nero.[2] So at least three of the seven witnesses of the Lord were slain between 60 AD and 63 AD. We never hear of Luke after Paul was sent to Rome, so did he die in Nero’s persecution? If so, that’s four leaving only Matthew, Jude and John? Was John the final witness to die that ended the valid witness of the Lord (Revelation 11:3-10)? If this conjecture is anywhere close to being true, it may be that John’s identifying himself as the Elder tells us the other six have already been slain, and he would have been recognized by the church at large, as the sole surviving witness who had literally walked with Jesus. I can only imagine what such a thing would have felt like, how it may have appeared to all those believers who had trusted Christ, because of the preaching and writings of the seven, and now only one is left. In such a context, the writer of this epistle would, indeed, be the Elder to all.
______________________________________________________
[1] See Clement’s first epistle, chapter 5.
[2] See Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.1 (199-200).
Smoodock's Blog 