2 John

With only 13 verses in 2 John, it is more of a postcard than a letter. Much more has been written about it than was ever written in it. It is shorter than all New Testament books except the slightly shorter letter immediately following it in 3 John. But the consistency of themes in these two (2 & 3 John) letters with 1 John and the fourth Gospel is unmistakable. A close parallel to 2 John is seen in Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, "but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ" (Eph. 4:15). Ephesus is the same city where John is presumed to have written 1st and 2nd John. Addressing this letter to the elect lady and her children, many commentaries have chosen to consider this a metaphoric terminology for the church. John MacArthur writes that such an interpretation is inconsistent with the transition between the singular form of the personal pronoun "you" in verse 5 and the plural form in verse 12, which would more naturally apply to a woman and her children than a church and its members. Based on the warnings contained in 1 John and reemphasized here in 2 John against heretics (vv7,10-11), and specifically against welcoming them into your home (v10), it may be that this woman inadvertently or unwisely opened her home to a traveling heretic who was traveling from church to church taking advantage of Christian hospitality. Despite the admonition, the theme of the letter is the importance and boundaries of loving in the truth.