The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (182 page)

But there was more than secession prior to John's writing. The controversy continued, and 2 John 8—9 indicates the status of the controversy: “Watch yourselves so that you don't lose what we have worked for, but you may receive a full reward. Anyone who does not remain in the teaching about Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.” It seems that the itinerant teaching of the opponents was ongoing (1 John 2:26).
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Thus the secessionists were aggressively seeking to infiltrate the churches in and around Ephesus with their
“progressive” theology, and that the aged apostle John (see “the elder” in 2 John 1; 3 John 1) took up his pen to address this situation.

Purpose

First John is similar to John's Gospel in that the purpose statement occurs near, but not at the very end of, the book (see John 20:30—31)-
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In 1 John, the purpose statement occurs at 5:13: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” While there are two other passages that declare John's purpose for writing (2:1; 2:12—14), they do not carry the same global weight as 5:13. Thus the reassurance of all genuine Christians in the church(es) addressed is the primary purpose of the book.

Nevertheless, reassurance is only part of John's purpose. The book also displays a pronounced emphasis on exhortation, which is indicated by the fact that many verbs are either formal or implied imperatives.
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D. Guthrie noted, “Nowhere else in the New Testament is the combination of faith and love so clearly brought out, and it seems probable that this is emphasized because the behaviour of the readers leaves much to be desired.”
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While Guthrie may have overstated his point, there is little doubt that exhortation is an important part of John's purpose for writing his first letter.
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Introductory Matters Unique to 2 John and 3 John

The prescripts of 2 John and 3 John differ from 1 John in that the recipients and sender are named, albeit imprecisely. The sender is identified in both letters simply as “the elder.” The similarity in language and themes to 1 John makes it virtually certain they are from the same person, although this is debated.
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The use of the term “elder” here is similar to the prologue in 1 John 1:1—4 in that the writer is so well known that the simplest of ascriptions is sufficient to identify him to the readers.
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The designation of the recipients in 2 John as “the elect lady and her children” (2 John 1; cf. v. 13) is also imprecise. These recipients have been variously interpreted as an actual woman and her offspring or as a figurative reference to a (series of) local congregation(s),
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with the latter of these being preferable.
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John's language is not appropriate in referring to a real person (e.g., v. 5: “So now I urge you, lady…that we love one another”). Also, the scenario underlying verses 7—11 was more appropriate to a local congregation than to a single home in it. The conspicuous absence of personal names in 2 John—compared to the references to Gaius, Demetrius, and Diotrephes in 3 John—suggests that the intended recipient is a local congregation rather than an individual lady and her children. It is unclear why John chose not to name the location of the church. The omission may have been motivated by John's desire to lend his letter universal application or to protect the specific identity of the church for some other reason.
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The occasion of 2 John may have been the return of a delegation sent by the the church to the apostle. In verse 4, John commended “some” as “walking in truth.” If related to 1 John (see esp. 2:19), the author may have intended to warn the church against welcoming the secessionists into their homes (see 2 John 8—11). Achtemeier, Green, and Thompson explained it well: “If in 1 John we see the problem from the vantage point of the church from which the false prophets ‘went out,’ in 2 John we see the problem with the eyes of the church in which they may then have showed up to preach and teach.”
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If so, John wrote to encourage this local congregation to beware of these false teachers.

Third John is specifically written “to my dear friend Gaius” (v. 1), an otherwise unknown individual.
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John did not specifically mention the secession or problems associated with it. Instead, he commended Gaius for receiving the brothers sent from the apostle (apparently itinerant preachers) and commended Demetrius as one of them (3 John 12). Diotrephes, on the other hand, opposed “the brothers” and did not support the apostolic missionaries (vv. 9—10).
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Thus it is safe to conclude that one of the major purposes of 3 John was to provide a letter of recommendation for the elder's emissaries in general and for Demetrius in particular, as well as to put Diotrephes in his place prior to John's anticipated visit.

LITERATURE

Genre

Both 2 John and 3 John are prototypical examples of the first-century letter and may be some of the most situational in the NT.
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There is an opening prescript featuring sender
and recipient (in the dative) without benefit of a verb (assuming some form of “I write”), a health wish, a body, closing greeting, and a formulaic farewell. Moreover, unlike most Christian letters, and like most Greco-Roman letters, they are quite brief.
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Third John may even be classified further as a letter of recommendation for Demetrius. Thus there is wide consensus for identifying the genre of 2 John and 3 John as simple, straightforward
letters.

But the genre of 1 John is quite a different matter. Brown noted that “of the twenty-one NT works normally classified as epistles, I John is the least letterlike in format.”
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The closest parallels in the canon are Hebrews and James, both of which lack some of the formal features of a Greco-Roman letter. A wide variety of proposals has been suggested for the work. Smalley called it “a paper,”
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Windisch a “tractate.”
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and Grayston an “enchiridion, an instruction booklet.”
Brown noted that “circular epistle,” “homily,” and “encyclical” have all been used to describe 1 John. Brown himself declined to settle on a specific genre designation and called the document a “comment patterned on” John's Gospel.
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Taking his point of departure from Brown's penchant for interpreting the letter based on the historical reconstruction of the community, J. V. Hills suggested that it should be considered a “community rule” document.
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The unusual situation with regard to 1 John is that the document contains few formal characteristics that would classify it as a letter. There is no prescript, well-wish/prayer, closing, or formulaic farewell. In fact, both the opening “[t]hat which was from the beginning” (NIV) and the closing “keep yourselves from idols” (5:1 NIV) are highly unconventional. In between the preface and the concluding statement, the elder teaches in a somewhat cyclical manner, frequently returning to a topic he has already addressed only to discuss it in somewhat similar though not identical terms. In this regard, 1 John is similar to Hebrews, which likewise opens with a kind of preface rather than an epistolary opening, and like James, which also concludes without a formal epistolary closing. By comparison, 1 John conforms even less to the standard first-century epistolary format than either Hebrews or James, for the former features at least an epistolary closing and the latter an epistolary opening, while 1 John has neither.

So what is the genre of 1 John? Despite the lack of standard formal epistolary features, it is best to understand it in broad terms as a letter since Greco-Roman letters exhibited a considerable degree of diversity.
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The work is from a single authoritative source (an apostle), but the recipients are identified only in general (and figurative) terms as “little children.” There is
more specific information regarding the secessionists. It seems that the letter was designed to address a situation germane to a number of congregations in the area.

Without imposing external categories on the letter, it is probably best to understand 1 John in terms of a circular letter similar to Ephesians or James. There is abundant evidence for this type of letter in antiquity, especially among the Jews. Jeremiah 29:4—13; Acts 15:23—29; James; and Revelation 2—3 contain exemplars of this type of genre. If so, 1 John is a situational letter written to instruct and encourage the apostolic Christians in and around Ephesus regarding the nature of the gospel and their part in it.

Literary Plan

The outline of 2 John and 3 John is predictable and easily discernible. As typical first-century letters, both follow the simple pattern: “introduction—body—conclusion.” But the outline of 1 John has generated much debate,
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and to date no scholarly consensus has been reached. The options range from those who see an intricate macro-chiasm to those who reject any coherent structure.
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The lack of consensus in scholarship has led several to posit various theories utilizing source or redaction criticism.
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Most scholars dismiss such theories as unproven, unlikely, or not particularly helpful.

What makes the structure of 1 John so difficult to discern? In a word, the answer is
subtlety.
The topical transitions are virtually seamless, and the various subjects recur in cyclical intervals throughout the letter. Nevertheless, given the clear structure of John's Gospel and Revelation, as well as the careful nuances displayed within the various paragraphs, it seems unlikely that the author had no plan in mind when writing the letter.
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With regard to the structure of 1 John, there is wide agreement only with regard to the preface (1:1—4) and the epilogue (5:13-21).

The structural proposals for 1 John fall into three major categories: divisions into two, three, or multiple parts.
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Among those who hold to a division into two parts, the main item of discussion is whether the break should be placed toward the end of chap. 2 or at 3:11. Among those who hold to a three-part structure, the debate centers on whether the
first major break is at 2:17; 2:28; or 2:29, and whether the second major break is at 4:1 or 4:7. Among those who see multiple divisions, one finds a plethora of proposals.
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Table 19.1: Structural Proposals for 1 John

The following outline for 1 John concurs with those who see a three-part structure to the book and specifically those who suggest the following major units: 1:5—2:27; 2:28-3:24; and 4:1—5:12. Within this overall structure, it is possible to discern interrelated paragraphs that provide a further breakdown of the flow of the argument of the letter. It is best to understand 1:5—2:27 as an extended overview of the rest of the letter, with 2:28—3:24 elaborating on the ethical and 4:1—5:12 on the doctrinal dimensions of believers’ lives.
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OUTLINES

1 John

1. PROLOGUE (1:1-4)
   
2. OVERVIEW (1:5-2:27)
   
   1. True Believers Walk in the Light (1:5-2:2)
      
   2. True Believers Keep Jesus’ Commandments (2:3—11)
      
   3. Grow in Christ and Do Not Love the World (2:12-17)
      
   4. Abiding and Departing (2:18-27)
      
3. ETHICS (2:28-3:24)
   
   1. Children of God Sanctify Themselves (2:28-3:10)
      
   2. Children of God Keep His Commandments (3:11-24)
      
4. DOCTRINE (4:1-5:12)
   
   1. Test the Spirits (4:1-6)
      
   2. The Theological Basis of Brotherly Love (4:7-12)
      
   3. Confidence from Correct Doctrine (4:13-21)
      
   4. Testimony and Proof (5:1-12) V. EPILOGUE (5:13-21)
      

2 John

1. INTRODUCTION (1-3)
   
2. BODY: “WALKING IN THE TRUTH” (4-11)
   
   1. “Walking in the Truth” Requires Brotherly Love (4-6)
      
   2. “Walking in the Truth” Requires Guarding the Truth About the Son (7-11)
      
3. CONCLUSION (12-13)
   

3 John

1. I. INTRODUCTION (1-4)
   
2. BODY: COMMENDATION OF GAIUS AND DEMETRIUS, CONDEMNATION OF DIOTREPHES (5-12)
   
   1. Gaius's Godly Behavior Toward Other Believers (5-8)
      
   2. The Ungodly Behavior of Diotrephes (9-10)
      
   3. Commendation of Demetrius (11-12)
      
3. CONCLUSION (13-14)
   

UNIT-BY-UNIT DISCUSSIONS

1 JOHN

I. Prologue (1:1-4)

Like John's Gospel, 1 John begins with a prologue. The author claimed to be an eyewitness of Jesus and asserted that he was proclaiming to his recipients the message that he and the apostles had heard from Jesus.