3 John - Background

Author

There is no dispute among biblical scholars who the author of the Book of 3rd John is - that being the Apostle John.  All of the other apostles of Christ had been martyred for their faith decades earlier, Jerusalem had fallen in 70 A.D., and it is now around 60 years since Christ was crucified on the cross and the closing of the 1st century A.D.  Being the only original apostle of Jesus Christ left alive upon the earth, John had an urgent message to give to the churches in Asia Minor.  As such he may have written the Gospel of John first, followed by the Book of Revelation, and then after his release from the prison Island of Patmos write the epistles of 1, 2, and 3rd John, and finally the Book of Revelation.  This study will be a study on the Book of 3rd John.

The Apostle John was condemned to death as a political agitator for preaching the Gospel of Christ in Asia Minor where he was the bishop over several churches.  He often referred himself as the elder, which traditionally means the same thing as bishop.  The apostle was arrested in his hometown of Ephesus, taken to Rome and condemned to death by Emperor Domitian.  He was boiled in oil and miraculously survived without sustaining any injury.  The anger of the emperor then banished him to die a martyrs death on the Island of Patmos.

The Island of Patmos is a rock island about 50 miles out in the Aegean Sea from Ephesus in Asia Minor.  The Romans used this island as a penal settlement in the 1st century to which they sent political agitators and others who threatened the peace of the empire.  The conditions were harsh and most prisoners were banished there to serve their sentence in the mines.  The Apostle John was banished to Patmos for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and released 18 months later under the new emperor Nerva. 

Date:

To learn of the dates of these writings, we need to look at  historical records to learn that the Apostle John was on the Island of Patmos for eighteen months during the latter reign of Emperor Domitian.  Following Domitian's assassination in 96 A.D., John was freed to return to his homeland of Ephesus.  The Apostle could have written the Gospel of John prior to his exile on Patmos, then wrote the Book of Revelation while in exile, and could have written 1, 2, and 3rd John upon returning home to Ephesus after his release.  Most scholars claim the Apostle John wrote all five books during this close time frame.  The Apostle John died two years after returning from Patmos - in 98 A.D. at the age of 93.

• Since the apostle lived only two years after returning from his exile on the Isle of Patmos, one does ask the question if he sustained permanent injurie that would have brought upon his death, or simply old age.  Could the apostle have known that death was imminent for him, and his writings were done as a very concerned father for his children so they would remain strong in their faith and not fall to the temptations of Satan?

Audience:

While the Gospel of John, Book of Revelation, and the Epistle of 1 John were written to all of seven churches, along with the smaller scattered congregations throughout the Lycos Valley and up into the mountains, 2nd and 3rd John are either written to an individual or one particular church.  The letter of 3rd John is written to one individual - Gaius - possibly the pastor in Pergamum in Asia Minor.

There were many men named Gaius in the New Testament.  Only by the context of the writings of John can we presume it is Gaius, pastor in Pergamum in Asia Minor. 

All of the Apostle John's epistle writings were written from Ephesus to a Christian audience belonging one or two or all of the seven churches in Asia Minor.  Again, all churches in the 1st century A.D. were home churches.  Asia Minor consisted of seven major churches, with smaller scattered churches along or near the coastline and up into the mountains of Asia Minor.