The Letters
- When
- c. AD 90–100
- Written by
- John, the elder
- Chapters
- 1
The big idea
John praises Gaius for welcoming travelling missionaries, rebukes the proud Diotrephes, and commends Demetrius: follow what is good.
Themes
- Hospitality
- Pride in leadership
- Walking in truth
- Following the good
Memory verse
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Key passages
- 2–4Walking in truth
- 5–8Helping the brethren on their way
- 9–11Diotrephes
Links to other Scripture
- Hebrews 13:2Hospitality
- Romans 12:13Pursuing hospitality
- Matthew 20:25–28Not so among you
- 1 Peter 4:9Without murmuring
Read the text
Choose a chapter to read it here in the King James Version. Verses with a dotted underline have notes from Bible scholars. Tap one to open them.
Notes from
Chapters
King James text and the commentaries of Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Gill, Clarke, Calvin, and Keil and Delitzsch are in the public domain. Tyndale Open Study Notes are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, from tyndaleopenresources.com. Texts were reformatted for this site.
Journal prompts
Keep a journal or notebook for your study. Write your answers there, in your own words.
- Where do you see Christ in this book?
- John is glad when his children walk in truth. Who has walked beside you in that way?
- Gaius showed hospitality to strangers. What could you open your home or your table to this week?
- Diotrephes loved to be first. Where do you notice that tendency in yourself?
- In one sentence, this book is about…