Expositor's Bible: The Epistles of St. John Part 31

[369] ?sta? e?' ??? ?a???, e?e??, e?????, ?.t.?. 2 John ver. 3.

[370] ??s??? ???st?? e???e??? e? sa???. 2 John ver. 7.

[371] ??s??? ???st?? e? sa??? e??????ta. 1 John iv. 2.

_THE THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN._

III. EPISTLE.

GREEK. LATIN.

? p?es?te??? Ga?? Senior Gaio carissimo, t? a?ap?t?, ?? e?? quem ego diligo a?ap? e? a???e?a. in veritate. Carissime, ??ap?te, pe?? pa?t?? de omnibus orationem e???a? se e??d??s?a? facio prosper te ingredi ?a? ???a??e??, ?a??? et valere, sicut prospere e??d??ta? s?? ? ????. agit anima tua.

e?a??? ?a? ??a? e???e??? Gavisus sum valde venientibus ade?f?? ?a? fratribus et a?t?????t?? s?? t? testimonium perhibentibus a???e?a, ?a??? s? veritati tuae, sicut e? a???e?a pe??pate??. tu in veritate ambulas.

e???te?a? t??t?? ??? Maiorem horum non e?? ?a?a?, ??a a???? habeo gratiam quam ut ta ea te??a e? a???e?a audiam filios meos in pe??pat???ta. ??a?te, veritate ambulantes.

p?st?? p??e?? Carissime, fideliter ? ea? e??as? e?? t??? facias quidquid operaris ade?f??? ?a? e?? t??? in fratres, et hoc ?e????, ?? ea?t???sa? in peregrinos; qui testimonium s?? t? a?ap? e??p??? reddiderunt e????s?a?, ??? ?a??? caritati tuae in conspectu p???se?? p??pe?a? ecclesiae; quos a???? t?? Te??. ?pe? bene facies ducens ?a? t?? ???at?? digna Deo. Pro nomine e?????? ?de? ?aa???te? enim profecti sunt nihil ap? t?? e????. accipientes a gentibus.

?e?? ??? ?fe???e? Nos ergo debemus suscipere ap??aa?e?? t??? t????t???, huiusmodi ut ??a s??e???? cooperatores simus ????e?a t? a???e?a. veritatis. Scripsissem ???a?a t? e????s?a? sitan ecclesiae: sedis a??' ? f???p??te??? qui amat primatum a?t?? ???t?ef?? ??? gerere in eis Diotripes ep?de?eta? ?a?. d?a non recipit nos. Propter t??t?, ea? e???, ?p???s? hoc, si venero, a?t?? ta e??a commoneam eius opera ? p??e? ?????? p??????? quae facit verbis malignis f??a??? ?a?, ?a? ? garriens in nos, et a????e??? ep? t??t??? quasi non ei ista sufficiant, ??te a?t?? ep?de?eta? nec ipse suscipit t??? ade?f???, ?a? t??? fratres, et eos quo cupiunt ????e???? ????e? ?a? prohibet et de e? t?? e????s?a? e?a??e?. ecclesia eicit. Carissime, ??ap?te, ? noli imitari malum, ??? t? ?a???, a??a sed quod bonum t? a?a???. ? a?a??p???? est. Qui bene facit, e? t?? Te?? ex Deo est: qui male est??? ? de ?a??p???? facit, non videt Deum.

??? ???a?e? t?? Te??. Demetrio testimonium ???t??? ea?t???ta? redditur ab omnibus et ?p? pa?t?? ?a? ?p' ab ipsa veritate: et nos a?t?? t?? a???e?a?? testimonium perhibemus, ?a? ?e?? de a?t????e?, et nosti quoniam ?a? ??date ?t? ? a?t???a testimonium nostrum ??? a????? est?. verum est. Multa habui ????a e???? ??afe??, scribere tibi, sed nolui a??' ?? ?e?? d?a e?a??? per atramentum et ?a? ?a?a?? s?? calamum scribere tibi: ??a?a?? e?p??? de spero autem protinus e??e?? ?de?? se, ?a? te videre, et os ad os st?a p??? st?a loquimur. Pax tibi.

?a??s?e?. ?????? s??. Salutant te amici. Saluta ?spa???ta? se ?? f????? amicos per nomen.

aspa??? t??? f?????

?at' ???a.

AUTHORISED VERSION. REVISED VERSION.

The elder unto the The elder unto Gaius well beloved Gaius, the beloved, whom I whom I love in the love in truth. Beloved, truth. Beloved, I wish I pray that in all things above all things that thou mayest prosper thou mayest prosper and be in health, even and be in health, as thy soul prospereth.

even as thy soul For I rejoiced greatly, prospereth. For I rejoiced when brethren came greatly, when and bare witness unto the brethren came and thy truth, even as thou testified of the truth walkest in truth.

that is in thee, even Greater joy have I as thou walkest in none than this, to hear the truth. I have no of my children walking greater joy than to hear in the truth. Beloved, that my children walk thou doest a faithful in truth. Beloved, thou work in whatsoever doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest toward them thou doest to that are brethren and the brethren, and to strangers withal; who strangers; which have bare witness to thy borne witness of thy love before the church: charity before the whom thou wilt do church: whom if thou well to set forward on bring forward on their their journey worthily journey after a G.o.dly of G.o.d: because that sort, thou shalt do well: for the sake of the because that for His Name they went forth, name's sake they went taking nothing of the forth, taking nothing Gentiles. We therefore of the Gentiles. We ought to welcome therefore ought to receive such, that we may be such, that we fellow-workers with might be fellowhelpers the truth. I wrote to the truth. I wrote somewhat unto the unto the Church: but church: but Diotrephes, Diotrephes, who loveth who loveth to have the to have the pre-eminence pre-eminence among among them, them, receiveth us not.

receiveth us not. Therefore, if I come, Wherefore, if I come, I will bring to remembrance I will remember his his works which deeds which he doeth, he doeth, prating against prating against us with us with wicked malicious words: and words: and not content not content therewith, therewith, neither doth neither doth he himself he himself receive the receive the brethren, brethren, and them and forbiddeth them that would he forbiddeth, that would, and casteth and casteth _them_ _them_ out of the church. out of the church. Beloved, Beloved, follow not that imitate not that which is evil, but that which is evil, but that which is good. He which is good. He that doeth good is of that doeth good is of G.o.d: but he that doeth G.o.d: he that doeth evil hath not seen G.o.d. evil hath not seen G.o.d.

Demetrius hath good Demetrius hath the report of all _men_, and witness of all _men_, and of the truth itself: yea, of the truth itself: yea, and we _also_ bear we also bear witness; record; and ye know and thou knowest that that our record is true. our witness is true. I I had many things to had many things to write, but I will not write unto thee, but I with ink and pen write am unwilling to write unto thee: but I trust _them_ to thee with ink I shall shortly see thee, and pen: but I hope and we shall speak shortly to see thee, and face to face. Peace _be_ we shall speak face to to thee. _Our_ friends face. Peace _be_ unto salute thee. Greet the thee. The friends salute friends by name. thee. Salute the friends by name.

ANOTHER VERSION.

The Elder unto Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth. Beloved, in all things I pray that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

For I was exceeding glad of brethren coming and witnessing to thy truth, even as thou truly walkest. Greater joy than these _joys_ I have not, that I should hear of my own children walking truly. Beloved, thou doest in faithful wise whatsoever thou art working towards the brethren who are moreover strangers; which witness to thy charity before the Church; whom thou wilt do well to speed forward on their journey worthily of G.o.d: because that for the sake of the Name they went out taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore are bound to take up such that we may become fellow-workers with the truth. I wrote somewhat unto the Church: but Diotrephes who loveth to have primacy over them receiveth us not. Wherefore if I come I will bring to remembrance his works which he is doing, prating against us with wicked words: and not contented hereupon neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and them that would he hindereth, and casteth them out of the Church. Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He who is doing good is from G.o.d; he that is doing evil hath not seen G.o.d. To Demetrius witness stands given of all men and of the truth itself: yea, and we also are witnessing, and ye know that our witness is true. Many things I had to have written, but I am not willing to be writing unto thee with ink and pen: but I am hoping straightway to see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace unto thee.

The friends greet thee.

Greet the friends by name.

DISCOURSE XVII.

_THE QUIETNESS OF TRUE RELIGION._

"The elder unto the well beloved Gaius.... He that doeth good is of G.o.d; but he that doeth evil hath not seen G.o.d."--3 JOHN 1, 11.

The mere a.n.a.lysis of this note must necessarily present a meagre outline. There is a brief expression of pleasure at the tidings of the sweet and gracious hospitality of Gaius which was brought by certain missionary brethren to Ephesus, coupled with the a.s.surance of the truth and consistency of his whole walk. The haughty rejection of Apostolic letters of communion by Diotrephes is mentioned with a burst of indignation. A contrast to Diotrephes is found in Demetrius, with the threefold witness to a life so worthy of imitation. A brief greeting--and we have done with the last written words of St. John which the Church possesses.

I.

Let us _first_ see whether, without pa.s.sing over the bounds of historical probability, we can fill up this bare outline with some colouring of circ.u.mstance.

To two of the three individuals named in this Epistle we seem to have some clue.

The _Gaius_ addressed is, of course, _Caius_ in Latin, a very common praenomen, no doubt.

Three persons of the name appear in the New Testament[372]--unless we suppose St. John's Caius to be a fourth. But the generous and beautiful hospitality adverted to in this note is entirely of a piece with the character of him of whom St. Paul had written, "Gaius, mine host, and of the whole Church."[373] We know further, from one of the most ancient and authentic doc.u.ments of Christian literature, that the Church of Corinth (to which this Caius belonged) was, just at the period when St.

John wrote, in a lamentable state of schismatic confusion. Diotrephes may, at such a period, have been aspiring to put forward his claim at Corinth; and may, in his ambitious proceedings, have rejected from communion the brethren whom St. John had sent to Caius.[374] A yet more interesting reflection is suggested by a writing of considerable authority. The writer of the "Synopsis of Holy Scripture," which stands amongst the Works of Athanasius, says--"the Gospel according to John was both dictated by John the Apostle and beloved when in exile at Patmos, and by him was published in Ephesus, through Caius the beloved and friend of the Apostles, of whom Paul also writing to the Romans saith, _Caius mine host, and of the whole Church_."[375] This would give a very marked significance to one touch in this Third Epistle of St. John. The phrase here "and we bear witness also, _and ye know that our witness is true_"--clearly points back to the closing attestation of the Gospel--"_and we know that his witness is true_."[376] He counts upon a quick recognition of a common memory.[377]

Demetrius is, of course, a name redolent of the wors.h.i.+p of Demeter the Earth-Mother, and of Ephesian surroundings. No reader of the New Testament needs to be reminded of the riot at Ephesus, which is told at such length in the history of St. Paul's voyages by St. Luke. The conjecture that the agitator of the turbulent guild of silversmiths who made silver shrines of Diana may have become the Demetrius, the object of St. John's lofty commendation, is by no means improbable.

There is a peculiar fulness in the narrative of the Acts, and an amplitude and exactness in the reports of the speeches of Demetrius and of the town-clerk which betray both unusually detailed information, and a feeling on the part of the writer that the subject was one of much interest for many readers.[378] The very words of Demetrius about Paul evince that uneasy sense of the powers of fascination possessed by the Apostle which is often the first timid witness of reluctant conviction.[379] The whole story would be of thrilling interest to those who, knowing well what Demetrius had become, were here told what he once had been. In a very ancient doc.u.ment (the so-called "Apostolic Const.i.tutions")[380] we read that "Demetrius was appointed Bishop of Philadelphia by me," _i.e._, by the Apostle John. To the Bishop of a city so often shaken by the earthquakes of that volcanic soil came the commendation--"I know thy works that thou didst keep My word;" and the a.s.suring promise that he should, when the victory was won, have the solidity and permanence of "a pillar" in a "temple"[381] that no convulsion could shake down. The witness then, which stands on record for the Bishop of Philadelphia, is threefold; the threefold witness of the First Epistle on a reduced scale--the witness of the world;[382] the witness of the Truth itself, even of Jesus;[383] the witness of the Church--including John.[384]

II.

We may now advert to the _contents_ and _general style_ of this letter.

1. As to its _contents_.

1. It supplies us with a valuable test of Christian life, in what may be called the Christian instinct of _missionary affection_, possessed in such full measure by Caius.[385]

This, indeed, is an ingredient of Christian character. Do we admire and feel attracted by missionaries? They are knight-errants of the Faith; leaders of the "forlorn hope" of Christ's cause; bearers of the flag of the cross through the storms of battle. Do we wish to honour and to help them, and feel enn.o.bled by doing so? He who has no almost enthusiastic regard for missionaries has not the spirit of primitive Christianity within his breast.

2. The Church is beset with different dangers from very different quarters. The second Epistle of St. John has its bold unmistakable warning of danger from the philosophical atmosphere which is not only round the Church, but necessarily finds its way within. Those who a.s.sume to be leaders of intellectual and even of spiritual progress sometimes lead away from Christ. The test of scientific truth is accordance with the proposition which embodies the last discovery; the test of religious truth is accordance with the proposition which embodies the first discovery, _i.e._, "the doctrine of Christ." Progress outside this is regress; it is desertion first of Christ, ultimately of G.o.d.[386] As the second Epistle warns the Church of peril from _speculative ambition_, so the third Epistle marks a danger from _personal ambition_,[387]

arrogating to itself undue authority within the Church. Diotrephes in all probability was a bishop.[388] At Rome there has been a permanent Diotrephes in the office of the Papacy; how much this has had to say to the dislocation of Christendom, G.o.d knows. But there are other smaller and more vulgar continuators of Diotrephes, who occupy no Vatican.

Priests! But there are priests in different senses. The priest who stands to minister in holy things, the true _Leitourgos_ is rightly so-called. But there is an arrogant priests.h.i.+p which would do violence to conscience, and interpose rudely between G.o.d and the soul. Priests in this sense are called by different names. They are clad in different dresses--some in chasubles, some in frock-coats, some in petticoats.

"Down with priestcraft," is even the cry of many of them. The priest who stands to offer sacrifice may or may not be a priest in the evil sense; the priest (who abjures the name) who is a master of religious small-talk of the popular kind, and winds people to his own ends round his little finger by using them deftly, is often the modern edition of Diotrephes.

3. This brief Epistle contains one of those apparently mere spiritual _truisms_, which make St. John the most powerful and comprehensive of all spiritual teachers. He had suggested a warning to Caius, which serves as the link to connect the example of Diotrephes which he has denounced, with that of Demetrius which he is about to commend.

"Beloved!" he cries, "imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good." A glorious little "Imitation of Christ," a compression of his own Gospel, the record of the Great Example in three words![389]

Then follows this absolutely exhaustive division, which covers the whole moral and spiritual world. "He that doeth good," (the whole principle of whose moral life is this,) "is of," has his origin from, "G.o.d;" "he that doeth evil hath not seen G.o.d," sees Him not as a consequence of having spiritually looked upon Him. Here, at last, we have the flight of the eagle's wing, the glance of the eagle's eye.

Especially valuable are these words, almost at the close of the Apostolic age and of the New Testament Scripture. They help us to keep the delicate balance of truth; they guard us against all abuse of the precious doctrines of grace. Several texts are _mutilated_; more are conveniently _dropped out_. How seldom does one see the whole context quoted, in tracts and sheets, of that most blessed pa.s.sage--"if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, _the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin_?" How often do we see these words at all--"he that doeth good is of G.o.d, but he that doeth evil hath not seen G.o.d?" Perhaps it may be a lingering suspicion that a text which comes out of a very short Epistle is worth very little. Perhaps doctrinalism _a outrance_ considers that the sentiment "savours of works." But, at all events, there is terrible decisiveness about these ant.i.thetic propositions. For each life is described in section and in plan by one or other of the two. The whole complicated series of thought, actions, habits, purposes, summed up in the words _life_ and _character_, is a continuous stream issuing from the man who necessarily is _doing_ every moment of his existence. The stream is either pure, bright, cleansing, gladdening, capable of being tracked by a thread of emerald wherever it flows; or it carries with it on its course blackness, bitterness, and barrenness. Men must be plainly dealt with. They may hold any creed, or follow any round of religious practices. There are creeds which are n.o.bly true, others which are false and feeble--practices which are beautiful and elevating, others which are petty and unprofitable. They may repeat the s.h.i.+bboleth ever so accurately; and follow the observances ever so closely. They may sing hymns until their throats are hoa.r.s.e, and beat drums until their wrists are sore. But St. John's propositions ring out, loud and clear, and syllable themselves in questions, which one day or other the conscience will put to us with terrible distinctness. Are you one who is ever doing good; or one who is not doing good? "G.o.d be merciful to me a sinner!" may well rush to our lips. But _that_, when opportunity is given, must be followed by another prayer. Not only--"wash away my sins." Something more. "Fill and purify me with Thy Spirit, that, pardoned and renewed, I may become good, and be doing good." It is sometimes said that the Church is full of souls "dying of their morality." Is it not at least equally true to say that the Church is full of souls dying of their spirituality? That is--souls dying in one case of unreal morality; in the other of unreal spirituality, which juggles with spiritual words, making a sham out of them. Morality which is not spiritual, is imperfect; spirituality which is not moralized through and through is of the spirit of evil.

It is a great thing that in these last sentences, written with a trembling hand, which shrank from the labour of pen and ink,[390] the Apostle should have lifted a word (probably current in the atmosphere of Ephesus among spiritualists and astrologers[391]), from the low applications with which it was undeservedly a.s.sociated; and should have rung out high and clear the Gospel's everlasting justification, the final harmony of the teaching of grace--"he that doeth good is of G.o.d."

III.

The style of the third Epistle of St. John is certainly that of an old man. It is reserved in language and in doctrine. G.o.d is thrice and thrice only mentioned.[392] Jesus is not once expressly uttered. But