3 John 1:9 - Exposition

I wrote somewhat to the Church

. Just as the missionary brethren bore witness before the Church to the Christian love of Gains, so the elder will bear witness before the Church to the arrogant hostility of Diotrephes. Once more we see that words may be works. He who sanctions teachers of false doctrine shares in their "evil works" ( 2 John 1:11 ); and the "works" of Diotrephes partly consist in "prating against us with evil words." The same word for "evil" is used in both cases πονηρός —the word used to express "the evil one;" the coincidence is significant. The insolent opposition to the apostle on the part of Diotrephes, and the severe language used by St. John in condemning him, stand almost alone in the New Testament. For a parallel to the latter we must look to our Lord's denunciation of the arrogant and hypocritical Pharisees who opposed him. The Pharisees, like Diotrephes, not merely refused to walk in the right path themselves, but hindered those who were entering upon it ( Luke 11:52 ). They also "cast out" those who presumed to take a less narrow view than themselves ( John 9:34 , John 9:35 ).