The Second Letter of John
Written by John "the Presbyter" (verse 1) usually identified with the aged apostle John
Probably written at Ephesus
Written to Kyria, a Christian lady of Asia Minor, and her family in about A.D. 90
Written to warn against those who either insist on trying to "improve" the gospel, or else deny that Jesus had any reality as a human being
JOHN GREETS KYRIA AND CHILDREN Read II John 1-3
John the elder addresses this brief letter to a Christian woman named Kyria and her children. He describes her as a lady chosen of God, and greets her with grace . . . mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
BE ON GUARD AGAINST DECEIVERS Read 4-8
I am delighted [John says] to find your children walking in the truth of Christ. Surely it has always been God's injunction that we should love one another. But we must be on guard against imposters who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is the spirit of antichrist. Don't you be deceived by such teaching into forfeiting your spiritual rewards.
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THE DIVIDING LINE IS CLEAR Read 9-13
Either a man abides in Christ's teaching or he does not. If he has joined the gnostic avant garde, it is not for you to welcome him or to greet him in Christian joy. I would like to write more, but prefer to speak to you face to face. Your sister's children send their best to you.
There is evidence that this letter, the shortest in the New Testament, has been deliberately misconstrued down through the centuries. Although addressed to a woman, Kuria or Kyria (meaning "lady"), the letter has been represented since Jerome (d. 420 A.D.) as having been sent to a local church, or even to the church universal.
The prejudice against women in the church that existed during the middle ages helped to perpetuate the fiction. Recent archaeological discoveries have proved that Kyria was a name common enough in the Greek-speaking world, and it is well known that women played a leading part in the life of the primitive church, especially in Asia Minor.
Assuming that this was a distinguished Christian woman John was addressing (verse 1), you could discuss the ways in which God used women in the New Testament. Compare the statements of Paul (1 Timothy 2; 1 Corinthians 11) with the facts brought out in Philippians 4:2, Colossians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 1:11; Acts 16:14.
The purport of the letter is to warn about the controversy discussed in 1 John 2:18 and 4:1-3. Verses 7 through 11 of 2 John should be studied with particular care and compared with marginal references in other New Testament letters, and with church tendencies in our own time, both for similarities and dissimilarities.
