Lady
Love for the ladyvv 1-3
Admonished to love othersvv 4-6
Deception of the Antichrist vv 7-11
Yearning to pay a visit vv 12-13
Key Verses: 5, 9,
This short letter begins with the introduction typical for letters of that time. What is unique about this letter is that it is addressed to “Lady.” We don’t know if this is a loved woman or whether this “lady” is a literary tool used by John for the purpose of communicating clearly to his audience while hiding the true meaning from outsiders.
It could be that John had to hide the contents of the letter from the authorities because of persecution. So, John makes the letter to this group of believers look like a letter between friends, like nothing of any real importance. It is sort of a code understood by writer and readers.
What we do know is that John expressed love toward this Lady. He also said we are to love one another. Love seems to be the hallmark of Jesus-followers.
Some things in our spiritual life should never outgrow. We learn to read the Scriptures and understand how to apply them to our lives. We learn to pray, communicating to God on behalf of ourselves and others. We learn to love others that in the natural we would never love. But we must also learn to not panic when things go our way; Jesus has our back. We can trust Him.
We should never outgrow the fundamentals of our faith. Leaving them behind can be fatal. During John’s day there were some who left behind the solid ground of our faith. They thought they could change the core belief of Christianity, the deity of Jesus, and still have Christianity. They thought they were growing to a point that they didn’t need that any more. They were wrong.
You can’t leave the solid ground and expect not to sink. You can’t leave Jesus and remain a Christian. Got Jesus? Yes! Got life! Got Jesus? No! Got nothing! Those who were leading the way John likens to the coming Antichrist. We might say they were an Osama bin Laden, or a Hitler. Their path is filled with hatred and destruction. Not a life worth emulating.
I have noticed how many fights start as a result of text messaging! There is nothing like a face to face conversation. I know a few couples who can only communicate by text messaging without getting into a fight. They both read too much into facial expressions and voice changes. They end up adding meaning to a face to face conversation that just isn’t there.
John wanted to write more, but he wanted to wait for a face to face conversation. He didn’t want to have to be careful with his words. He wanted to be able to be straightforward with them.
The Arnold Journey 