2 John is a book that is often overly neglected due to the fact that it is so short, and that it seems so similar to 1 John. Most people don't ever really take a second look at it.
However, whenever you really take the time and put forth the effort to really dive into what is being said, it doesn't take long to see that this letter is riddled with mystery. Before we dive into all of that, though, let's take a look at some of the glaringly obvious things in the letter.
First off, take a note of how incredibly similar the message is in this letter to the message in the letter of 1 John. It seems as though John is simply summarizing what he said in 1 John in 2 John. So much so that, if you want to know what 1 John is all about overall, all you need to do is read 2 John. Its almost like reading the Cliff Notes for 1 John.
With that said, take the time to notice the differences between 1 and 2 John:
-In 1 John, John is writing to an entire church (the Ephesians) whereas in 2 John he is writing to a smaller group of Christians, one woman and her "children" in particular.
-Notice, also, how John never mentions his name in 1 John and how he calls himself "the elder" in 2 John.
-Lastly, notice how in 3 John, which is incredibly similar in structure to 2 John, John addresses the person he is writing to by name..."Gaius." In 2 John, he just refers to the person that he is writing to as "the lady."
At the beginning of this article, I told you that 2 John is riddled with mystery. I say this because of "the lady." We read over this without ever really raising any other questions about her but we simply come to the conclusion, "Cool, John is writing to some lady," without ever really taking the time to ask of who she is. And really, we can't understand much about her without knowing a little bit of New Testament Greek.
Here is something that may intrigue you:
-The Greek word for "the lady" is Kuria. Before I define it for you, take a look at another Greek word that is the masculine version of Kuria. That word is Kurios.
So, you are asking to yourself, "So what? Where are you going with this?"
The word Kurios means "Lord." It is the word that replaced the Hebrew word "Yahweh." It is the very word that is used every time we call Jesus "Lord." Now, come back to Kuria. Kuria is simply the feminine version of Kurios "Lord." This means that she is some type of female "Lord" or "Master." Now, John is by no means saying that this woman is a god, or equivalent to Jesus our Lord, but that he is simply recognizing her position of power and authority. She is significant to John and we must recognize that.
What can we learn from this woman that is obvious from the letter? A few things:
1) Again, she is in a position of authority, so much so that John even refers to her as Master.
2) In verse 1, he tells her that all who know the Truth will love her and her children as he does. What does this mean? That she is going to be very well known and loved by, what it seems, by several Christians if not all of them. "the lady....whom I love in the truth-and not only I, but also all who know the truth."
3) She has children, verse 4.
4) She has been working with John for a long period of time apparently. "Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for..." He is warning her to be alert so that they do not lose all that they have gained.
5) She has a sister. Now, this could mean either a blood relative or a sister in the Lord.
Now, truth be told, no one can know who this "lady" is for sure. We can only speculate.
I want to throw an interesting thought your way. Now, I readily admit that there is a good chance that I am incorrect. However, I think that what I am about to say will make a lot of sense.
I think that there is a fairly high chance that the lady that John is writing to is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Here is why I say this:
-Jesus, while he was dying on the cross, commissioned John to take care of Mary. "Woman, here is your son, and to the disciple (John), here is your mother." It says in John 19:27 that John took care of her and she lived with him from that point on.
-Church history tells us that several years after the Resurrection of Jesus, John took Mary to Ephesus where John became the leader of the the Ephesian church after Timothy.
-Ephesus had always been a place of great persecution towards Christians. The Ephesians stirred up riots against Christians. Ephesus was the very place that Paul was put on trial. It was also the place that John was exiled from to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation and, arguably, some of his other letters.
-Now, with all of the turmoil, John was a busy man. I am sure that he still continued to travel around even after he arrived in Ephesus. Which means, there is a fairly high probability that he could have written a letter to Mary, warning her of the sudden outbreak of false teachers in Ephesus.
Why I think this letter could be addressed to Mary:
1) Mary was well known inside of and outside of the church. We actually know very little about Mary after the time of Jesus other than the fact that she lived with John in Ephesus for a time. I think we know so little about her not because she had little influence on the church at the time, but because the church was trying to protect her and keep her safe. They wanted to protect her from falling into the hands of those who were persecuting Christianity.
With that said, notice that John doesn't address her by name. He is protecting her identity, in case the letter were to fall into the wrong hands. So, she is significant enough that she needs to be protected.
2) John says, again, that all who know the truth will come to love her and her children as he has loved her, verse 1. Now, he seems to be talking about Christians throughout the ages, because he is talking about knowing the truth, loving in truth, and that truth lasting forever, verses 1 and 2.
3) Mary did have other sons who apparently didn't come to faith until after Jesus' resurrection. This could be why John is so excited that some of her children are now walking in the truth, verse 4. Also, the children in verse 4 could be referring to Christians.
4) Lastly, he calls her "Master." This is by no means insignificant. Again, this is the apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved...the one who was one of the greatest influences of all time...he calls her Master? Now, we need to ask the important question; "What woman does John view as significant enough to be called Master?"
I have said all of this because it is intriguing to think about, isn't it?
Again, I very well could be wrong here. I readily admit that.
However, whoever this lady is, we must never forget that she is a person of prominence and respect within the early church and especially in the apostle John's mind.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
1 John 5
Eternal life is God. Jesus doesn't just lead us to salvation, but He is salvation. Obtaining salvation is obtaining God.
John explains it this way, "And we are in Him who is true by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." -1 John 5:20
That is why worshiping idols is so utterly devastating to us. Whenever we seek to worship idols, whatever they may be (money, sex, popularity, comfort...etc.) we are actually seeking to be united to that idol more than God. Whenever we seek whatever it is that we think we are gaining from idols, we are actually seeking to reject God's nearness to us and the life that is given to us as God frees us.
No wonder John ends the letter with, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." This is serious stuff.
With all of that said, I think that we can now make sense of a passage that is quite confusing and intriguing; 1 John 5:16-17:
"16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death"
A lot of people come to that passage, including myself, and ask, "what on earth does this mean?"
I think, in short, becoming fixated on idols is what leads us to death. I am talking about more than just the occasional slip up here and there, but about someone allowing an idol to become his/her lord. That, they enslave themselves to an idol.
This seems to be what has happened with the Ephesian church that John is writing to. Throughout the entire letter, John has been making arguments about how Jesus truly has come in the flesh, that God has really stepped into our world. John spends a lot of time in this letter reminding the people of who Jesus is as if there are some out there who are contesting the fact that Jesus is God.
He talks about people in chapter 2 who were once a part of the church, but have now left. He calls them the "antichrists." Furthermore, Paul in the book of Acts tells the Ephesian pastors to guard themselves and the church because people will come seeking to confuse and deceive those in the church. He also goes onto say that he knows that some people will rise up from within the church and lead people astray.
There is also a place in the Gospels where Jesus tells the Pharisees that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I believe that this is one and the same thing...that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the other side of the idolatry coin that John is talking about.
Putting it all together: Why is blasphemy of the Spirit unforgivable? And, why do idols lead us to death? The 2 go together because we reject the Spirit in order to worship idols and if we worship idols, it means that we are rejecting the Spirit. Furthermore, people blaspheme the Spirit whenever they recognize that the Spirit is at work, but they reject Him thinking that he is bad, evil, or inadequate....therefore they turn to idols.
In other words, the sin that leads to death is this: Understanding that the Holy Spirit is at work but choosing to consciously reject Him anyways in order to make some other idol the Lord of your life.
To finish up, John wrote this letter to the Ephesians because there are people who once were a part of the church that have now left and are trying to pull others away from the church and away from Christ as well. John spends the majority of the letter reminding the Ephesians that Jesus is truly the Messiah, that he has come in a physical way, and that Jesus truly is God. Furthermore, he tells them what it means to be true Christians, that those who are children of God love one another. He tells them this so that they can guard themselves against those who are trying to tell them to live differently. Lastly, he reminds them that there is a sin that leads to death, which is the option that those who have left the church have chosen. He concludes the letter by both warning and encouraging them.
To paraphrase, "Keep yourselves from idols so that you to may not be led astray. However, I am writing these things to you to remind you that you are in Christ, that you have eternal life, and if you see a brother or sister committing a sin that does not lead them to abandon the church, don't freak out about it....but pray for them so that they can be restored."
John explains it this way, "And we are in Him who is true by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." -1 John 5:20
That is why worshiping idols is so utterly devastating to us. Whenever we seek to worship idols, whatever they may be (money, sex, popularity, comfort...etc.) we are actually seeking to be united to that idol more than God. Whenever we seek whatever it is that we think we are gaining from idols, we are actually seeking to reject God's nearness to us and the life that is given to us as God frees us.
No wonder John ends the letter with, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." This is serious stuff.
With all of that said, I think that we can now make sense of a passage that is quite confusing and intriguing; 1 John 5:16-17:
"16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death"
A lot of people come to that passage, including myself, and ask, "what on earth does this mean?"
I think, in short, becoming fixated on idols is what leads us to death. I am talking about more than just the occasional slip up here and there, but about someone allowing an idol to become his/her lord. That, they enslave themselves to an idol.
This seems to be what has happened with the Ephesian church that John is writing to. Throughout the entire letter, John has been making arguments about how Jesus truly has come in the flesh, that God has really stepped into our world. John spends a lot of time in this letter reminding the people of who Jesus is as if there are some out there who are contesting the fact that Jesus is God.
He talks about people in chapter 2 who were once a part of the church, but have now left. He calls them the "antichrists." Furthermore, Paul in the book of Acts tells the Ephesian pastors to guard themselves and the church because people will come seeking to confuse and deceive those in the church. He also goes onto say that he knows that some people will rise up from within the church and lead people astray.
There is also a place in the Gospels where Jesus tells the Pharisees that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I believe that this is one and the same thing...that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the other side of the idolatry coin that John is talking about.
Putting it all together: Why is blasphemy of the Spirit unforgivable? And, why do idols lead us to death? The 2 go together because we reject the Spirit in order to worship idols and if we worship idols, it means that we are rejecting the Spirit. Furthermore, people blaspheme the Spirit whenever they recognize that the Spirit is at work, but they reject Him thinking that he is bad, evil, or inadequate....therefore they turn to idols.
In other words, the sin that leads to death is this: Understanding that the Holy Spirit is at work but choosing to consciously reject Him anyways in order to make some other idol the Lord of your life.
To finish up, John wrote this letter to the Ephesians because there are people who once were a part of the church that have now left and are trying to pull others away from the church and away from Christ as well. John spends the majority of the letter reminding the Ephesians that Jesus is truly the Messiah, that he has come in a physical way, and that Jesus truly is God. Furthermore, he tells them what it means to be true Christians, that those who are children of God love one another. He tells them this so that they can guard themselves against those who are trying to tell them to live differently. Lastly, he reminds them that there is a sin that leads to death, which is the option that those who have left the church have chosen. He concludes the letter by both warning and encouraging them.
To paraphrase, "Keep yourselves from idols so that you to may not be led astray. However, I am writing these things to you to remind you that you are in Christ, that you have eternal life, and if you see a brother or sister committing a sin that does not lead them to abandon the church, don't freak out about it....but pray for them so that they can be restored."
Prayer
Prayer is war. Prayer is a fight, and nothing less than that. So many of us struggle from day to day, week to week, even year to year with prayer because we simply don't think of prayer at all in this way.
We tend to forget that there is an enemy...and enemy who desires to keep us distracted...an enemy who whispers accusations against us in our ears making us feel as though we are too guilty to come before our Lord in prayer, so we don't even attempt it.
I was reading a paper a few weeks ago where the author talked about a monastery during the times of the early church. There are several recorded conversations from those who lived there, but one conversation stuck out to me particularly.
There was an elderly man who had been a monk all of his life who was once questioned by some travelers to the monastery, "What do you find the hardest Christian virtue is?" In other words, they were asking, "what do you find to be the hardest thing for Christians to do?"
His answer was simple and to the point; "prayer." He went on from there to explain that the devil, above all else, desires to keep us from prayer. That, if Satan could stop us from doing anything, he would interrupt our prayer life and he will distract us in any way that he can.
I find it fascinating that this man, whose life was entirely centered around prayer as a monk, found that the most difficult thing to do was pray.
I am sharing all of this with you because, if we properly understand how the devil is seeking to thwart us, we can better understand our stance on prayer. That, we don't need to be as passive about it as many of us are, but that we need to show up eager for the challenge, always remembering that God is on our side and that if "God is for us, who can be against us?"
It's no wonder that Paul used images such as running a race and fighting a battle whenever he tried to describe the kind of life that Christians are up against.
So, finally, take Paul's words as encouragement as you pray:
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds....and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
We tend to forget that there is an enemy...and enemy who desires to keep us distracted...an enemy who whispers accusations against us in our ears making us feel as though we are too guilty to come before our Lord in prayer, so we don't even attempt it.
I was reading a paper a few weeks ago where the author talked about a monastery during the times of the early church. There are several recorded conversations from those who lived there, but one conversation stuck out to me particularly.
There was an elderly man who had been a monk all of his life who was once questioned by some travelers to the monastery, "What do you find the hardest Christian virtue is?" In other words, they were asking, "what do you find to be the hardest thing for Christians to do?"
His answer was simple and to the point; "prayer." He went on from there to explain that the devil, above all else, desires to keep us from prayer. That, if Satan could stop us from doing anything, he would interrupt our prayer life and he will distract us in any way that he can.
I find it fascinating that this man, whose life was entirely centered around prayer as a monk, found that the most difficult thing to do was pray.
I am sharing all of this with you because, if we properly understand how the devil is seeking to thwart us, we can better understand our stance on prayer. That, we don't need to be as passive about it as many of us are, but that we need to show up eager for the challenge, always remembering that God is on our side and that if "God is for us, who can be against us?"
It's no wonder that Paul used images such as running a race and fighting a battle whenever he tried to describe the kind of life that Christians are up against.
So, finally, take Paul's words as encouragement as you pray:
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds....and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
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