I wrote to the
church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not
receive us.
3 John 1:9
Dear Heavenly
Father, I praise Your name for Your creation.
This weekend I got to spend some time where the ocean meets the
land. The cool light emerald water
thrashed when it arrived at the beach.
The sand softened my feet. I loved the
peace that Your world afforded to me as I prayed. This world just didn't happen. It was crafted. The world was designed by You. I'm humbled my the scope of Your glory and
majesty. Please be with me tonight as I
continued to study Your word. In Jesus's
name I pray, Amen.
Still in the body of
John's letter, this verse comes after the initial exhortation. This part of the letter focuses on doctrine,
either by a thesis statement (theory to be proved) or ethical admonition (a
warning, rebuke, counsel). This verse is
an ethical admonition of Diotrephes. His
name only appears in 3 John. Diotrephes
has been classified as a Judaizer who believes that Christians should follow
Old Covenant laws from the Bible.
Galatians 2:14 states "But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all,
'If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why
do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?'"
The word "to live as Jews" is Ioudaizó
in the Greek which means to become a Judaean, i.e. "Judaize."
However, these Old Covenant laws were supplanted by the New Covenant in Jesus
as told in the New Testament. To bring
deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their
companion or similar verses.
"Wrote" in
the Greek is grapho which means pass, it
is written, it stands written (in the Scriptures), to write to one, to give
information, to give direction, followed by the words written, to be written in
a letter. The English word, church, comes
from the Greek word, kyriakos, which
means belonging to the Lord. However in
this verse, "church" in the Greek is ekklesia
which means assembly, congregation, whole body of Christian believers,
people called out of the world to God, a company of Christians. Ekklesia
is made of the word iek (out from and
to) and kaleo (to call). Therefore, people called out of
somewhere. John wrote a letter to the
whole body of believers called out of the world.
The name
"Diotrephes" means cherished by Zeus, an opponent to the apostle
John, foster-child of Zeus, a proud and arrogant man, opponent to Christianity,
nourish-feed-pamper Jupiter. "Loves
to have the preeminence" in the Greek is philoproteou
which means desire preeminence, strive to be first, I love the chief place,
fond of being first, to aspire superiority, surpassing all others. This word only appears in 3 John. "Receive" in the Greek is epidechomai which means accept, admit,
welcome, welcoming with its effects, welcome in a manner that is appropriate
and suitable in the circumstances, to accept what is true, to receive
hospitality. However, Diotrephes, the foster-child
of Zeus, who desires, strives, aspires to be superior to all doesn't
appropriately acknowledge, welcome, accept John and the people with John.
Do you always have
to be first? Do you always have to be
correct? Do you ignore others because
you are better than them? If so, why do
you? I've seen people so consumed to
always be correct or right that they will destroy friendships. I've seen people be snooty and snotty because
they feel superior. These people have a
need to fill. They are empty inside.
They have a hunger that they try to cure by being better than anyone else. They are addicted to the feeling of
preeminence. This concept can be
summarized by the word, "pride."
In the New King
James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, "pride" appears over 51
times. Proverbs 11:2 states "When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the
humble is wisdom." Proverbs 16:18
states "Pride goes before
destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 29:23 states "A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in
spirit will retain honor." In Mark
7:20-22, Jesus said "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
If you suffer from a
superiority complex, a psychological defense mechanism in which a person's
feelings of superiority counter or conceal his or her feelings of inferiority,
there is good news. Let's be truthful here,
if you have to be first, correct, or ignore others because you feel better than
them, you are plugging up the empty void in your life. But, God loves you.
Philippians 2:5-11
states "Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the
form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father." Christ died for you. He paid your debt. All He asks is to believe in Him and what He
did for you. Be freed. Accept His free gift.
I wrote something to
the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to put himself first, does not accept
what we say and refuses to recognize my authority.
Amplified Bible
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