Therefore, if I
come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with
malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the
brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.
3 John 1:10
Dear Heavenly
Father, please give me clarity today as I complete my study of this verse. Please give me clear thought and
understanding. Please be with my son as
he graduates from High School tonight.
Continue to encourage and lead him.
In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.
We are still in the
body of this letter, specifically admonishment.
This verse continues the ethical
rebuke of Diotrephes. To bring deeper
understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion
or similar verses.
"Therefore"
in the Greek is dia which means through,
on account of, by reason of, for the sake of, successfully to the other side,
for this cause, since this is so.
"Come" in the Greek is erchomai
which means go, arrived, entered, to come from one place to the other. Since Diotrephes desires to be famous and first
in all things, John describes what he will do if he travels to Ephesus.
"Call to
mind" in the Greek is hupomimnesko
which means remind, remember, to remember because prompted, to cause to
remember, recall to mind. It is made up
of the word hypo which means
"under" and mimnesko which
means "remember."
"Deeds" in the Greek is ergon
which means work, labor, action, that which is wrought or made, action that
completes an inner desire or purpose.
John will through prompting of everyone's mind cause rememberance of
Diotrephes' actions that completes his inner desires.
"Prating"
in the Greek is phuareo which means
gossip against, talk idly, make empty charge against, talk nonsense,
overflowing with speech. Phuareo only appears once in the Bible. It's root word is phylaros which means to bubble up, boil over, to bring forward
idle accusations. Idle means pointless, frivolous, petty, shallow. "Malicious" in the Greek is poneros which means evil, bad, wicked,
slothful, inevitable agonies that go along with evil, pain-ridden. John reminds them that Diotrephes loves
gossiping about John and his fellow workers bringing forward frivolous and shallow
accusations.
"Content"
in the Greek is arkeo which means
sufficient, satisfied, to be enough, suffice.
"Receive" in the Greek is epidechomai
which means accept, admit, welcome, aptly welcome, receive hospitably, not
reject. It is made up of the word epi which means "on, fitting" and dexomai which means "welcome." "Brethren" in the Greek is adelphos which means brother, member of the
same religious community, fellow Christian, fellow believer, united to another
by the bond of affection. Since his gossiping
and idle charges against them aren't enough, Diotrephes doesn't hospitably
welcome his fellow Christians.
"Forbids"
in the Greek is koluo which means
prevent, hinder, to cut off, to cut short, deny or refuse a thing, withhold a
thing from anyone. "Wish" in
the Greek is boulomai which means will,
intend, desire, to plan with full desire, have a purpose, to will
deliberately. Diotrephes prevents and
denies his congregation from welcoming fellow believers.
"Putting"
in the Greek is ekballo which means
throw, cast, banish, expel a person from society, banish from family. "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. Diotrephes kicks out of his
congregation anyone who would receive the brethren. Diotrephes persecutes anyone who doesn't say
or believe like he does. These people
are intolerant in Diotrephes' eyes.
As the world's
morals fade away from Christian teachings, our definition of words change or at
least how we use them. Intolerant is
defined as NOT
showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one
does not necessarily agree or differs from one's own. This word is now being used as a sledge
hammer to people who don't conform to the world's morality. If the world says, you must like ducks. However, if you hate them because the
quacking is annoying, you are intolerant.
Your opinion cannot exist. It
must be expunged from reality. What
makes this use of the word dangerous is that the world's morality changes. Therefore one day, you can be on the right
side of history and the next day be banished.
As we read in this
verse, this use of intolerance is not new.
Diotrephes is systematically culling his congregation to conform to his
ideas by not allowing the missionaries into his church and also by removing
anyone that sympathizes with them.
Throughout history, this is Satan's convenient strategy that has been
employed over and over again, most recently with Soviet communism. We must hold onto the Truth and use the Truth
to counter respectfully other people's ideas and opinions. By being gracious and fair in our
discussions, we can model Christ and continue to spread the Gospel.
For this reason, if
I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, unjustly accusing us with
wicked words and unjustified charges. And not satisfied with this, he refuses
to receive the [missionary] brothers himself, and also forbids those who want to
[welcome them] and puts them out of the church.
Amplified Bible
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