2 JOHN (Protecting our church from false teachers):
Date: Probably between AD 85 and 95 (same period of 1 John) before the exile to Patmos.
Author: The Apostle John
Location: Ephesus
Uniqueness: The only letter in the entire Bible written to a woman. Unlike 1-John, 2-John and 3-John categorised as personal letters.
Background:
The word translated “lady” is really a proper name “Kyria” the Greek form for the name “Martha.” She was an elderly person, probably a widow, living with her grown-up children. When Apostle John says that she was loved by “all them that knew the truth,” he makes it plain that her name was at least well known in the Asiatic Churches, and that she was a person of real and high excellence. What Dorcas was to St. Peter; what Lydia of Philippi, and Phoebe of Cenchrea, and Priscilla, and many others were to St. Paul, such was this Christian lady Kyria to St. John.
Many other commentators felt that Apostle John’s reference “lady” was to the Church and her children as members of the Church.
There were no church buildings in those days, so the believers were often meeting in the house churches. It fits quite well that the church was meeting in her house, just as the church was meeting in Lydia’s house in Philippi. Further there were travelling ministers and local ministers.
Didache (the teaching of the 12-Apostles) warns that if a prophet stays more than 3-days in a place, he’s a false prophet. So there were regular travelling prophets.
A brief Time-line of John the Apostle
| SN | John the disciple’s time-line | Year (AD) (Approx) |
| 1 | John becomes disciple | 28-30 |
| 2 | Jesus’ death and resurrection | 33 |
| 3 | Emperor Nero’s reign (Nero commits suicide in AD 68) | 54-68 |
| 4 | Destruction of Jerusalem | 70 |
| 5 | Domitian’s reign.(Domitian was assassinated on 18th Sep. 96 AD) | 85-96 |
| 6 | John was sent to Patmos | 95 |
| 6 | Wrote Gospel according to John | 85-95 |
| 7 | John writes 1st, 2nd and 3rd letter | 85-95 |
| 8 | John writes Revelation while in exile in Patmos | 95-96 |
| 9 | Emperor Nerva’s reign | 96-98 |
| 10 | John was released from exile from Patmos by Nerva | 96 |
| 11 | The death of John in Ephesus. | 100 |
John was writing to the elderly lady in whose house the church was meeting, to be cautious of the travelling ministers who were spreading false doctrines. The danger with her was she had too much love but not enough truth. She was welcoming people she ought not have welcomed. She was giving hospitality, but her attitude was she was too soft hearted and accommodating to anyone who wanted to stay. She was unwittingly being used to introduce bad teaching to the church. John had to rebuke her mildly that in doing this she was neglecting the truth.
Many heretical teachings have appeared through women. The women’s heart goes with the teacher, but she needs to spend time evaluating the teaching as well. Paul’s second letter to Timothy shows us that heretical teachers were especially successful in deceiving widows and weak-willed women. Paul had to urge Timothy to protect them from being misled. This is one reason why Paul tells Timothy that women should not be involved in teaching. He points out that Eve was deceived, though we must add that Eve was fooled in the presence of Adam, who kept his mouth shut.
We find the same opposite danger in 3-John. Now let us study 2-John.