2 John

Summary of the Book of 2 John

Written: c. AD 85-95

A single page from "the elder" to "the chosen lady and her children," most likely a local congregation and its members addressed under a protective figure of speech, 2 John compresses the concerns of 1 John into thirteen verses. Traditionally attributed to the apostle John and written in the same period as his other letters, it deals with a church on a traveling preachers' circuit, where hospitality was the infrastructure of the Christian mission and therefore also its vulnerability.

The elder rejoices at finding some of the lady's children walking in truth, then restates the commandment held from the beginning: love one another, where love means walking according to his commandments. The danger is specific: many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Anyone who runs ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The practical ruling follows: if someone comes bearing a different doctrine, do not receive him into your house and do not welcome him, for the one who welcomes shares in his evil deeds. Watch yourselves, the elder adds, that you do not lose what has been accomplished.

Brief as it is, 2 John preserves a necessary tension in the New Testament's picture of the church: a community defined by love that is nevertheless not infinitely porous. Truth and love are not rivals here; love operates within truth, and guarding the doctrine of Christ is presented as an act of care for the congregation. The elder closes hoping to come and speak face to face, so that our joy may be made full.

To urge a congregation to keep loving one another within the truth and to deny hospitality to traveling teachers who deny Christ come in the flesh.