2 John is a short and enigmatic letter, a mere 250 words in Greek (315 words in the English NIV) written to a mysterious “Lady” known to John the Apostle.
With astonishing clarity and conciseness John touches upon sweeping themes of familial love within the church, obedience to the commands of Christ, the truth of the presence of the indwelling Spirit, and confronts those who deny Jesus with an unbending insistence on the foundational truth of the incarnation of Christ. This is expressed in a grace filled personal way sprinkled with love, compassion, joy and a sincere longing for the company of the recipient.
But who is this chosen Lady?
Before we try to unravel the mystery, it is worth reading the letter in its entirety:
1 The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
After reading the entire letter, the natural conclusion is that John is addressing a real person. She is apparently a dear friend, a lady with children, for whom he expresses a selfless (agape) love. She owns a home, and seems the type given to hospitality. John is familiar with her children and has the joyful report that some have put their faith in Jesus. She is clearly a believer and John has some heartfelt advice for her to strengthen her faith and for her protection. John sends this short letter but plans to visit her face to face. In fact, he is currently staying with her nieces and nephews who send their greeting to her as well.
But is it really that simple?
2 John 1 1 The elder, to the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth -and not I only, but also all who know the truth-
John starts this letter calling himself an “elder”.
What is an elder?
In English this can simply mean an older person, for example I might refer to my elder brother, or it can be an honorific title given to a person who has earned stature and respect. For example, we might say that a refined and longstanding politician is an “elder statesman”. Surprisingly, this ambiguity is also true of the Greek word used here, presbuteros. In Luke 15:25 presbuteros refers to the “older” brother in the parable of the prodigal son. In the Jewish culture of the first century the title of Elder was also an honor conferred upon the members of the ruling council of Israel, the Sanhedrin (and the scripture repeatedly speaks of the “elders and priests”, or the “elders and scribes”, see for example Mark 14:43,53). Jesus is a master of language and he is cleverly using this ambiguity to point out to the Jewish Elders listening to him, where they may find themselves in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The “Elders” are the hard-hearted elder brother who refuses to celebrate over the return, repentance and restoration of their “younger” brother, the sinners that Jesus was joyfully embracing.
Following the Jewish tradition, the church adopted the term Elder to describe those God called to hold positions of authority in governing and shepherding the church of Jesus Christ. In some translations presbuteros is translated “overseer”. The character requirements of an Elder, like those of the members of the Sanhedrin, is pretty daunting. Perhaps it is best summarized by the admonition to “be above reproach” (see Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 for more details).
Why use this title, Elder, to start this letter? If this were simply a personal letter, as it seems at face value, I would expect John to lead with his name. There is a certain cold formality about starting with his title, his credentials.
Curious.
Who is this “chosen Lady”? This is something of a mystery. The word translated “Lady” (Kuria) is only used twice in the Bible, both times here in 2 John. This is not a “lady” in the dictionary sense of a “woman who is refined, polite and well spoken” nor simply “a female”, but rather “a woman of high social position or economic class”[1]. Repeatedly Kurios, the masculine form of this word, is used to describe God or Jesus as “Lord” (in fact it is used of Jesus in verse 3). We need to harken back to English titles to understand that John is calling this woman a “Lady” as an honorific title, perhaps akin to a Baroness!
This causes me to pause and ponder. My understanding of first century culture is that women were treated as property, not citizens and yet here is an apostle, an elder of the church, writing a personal letter to a distinguished woman, with no mention of her husband the “Lord” to which she is the “Lady”.[2] John certainly elicits our attention when he says that he loves this “chosen Lady”, both her and her children, and that all who know the truth join him in this love. “Chosen” means that she is elect, favored, special, and set apart. This woman and her children must have been quite influential for John to report that all believers revere them.
This too is puzzling.
It is hard to imagine even an influential matron of the early church, like Priscilla [3], about whom John could honestly say that all those who know the truth love her too. Sure, Priscilla would be known and cherished in her circles of influence, but why would anyone from, say Jerusalem, know, let alone love, her?
Seems pretty hard for anyone to fit this description.
This leads me to the possibility that it was Jesus’ mother Mary. Now Mary is the one woman that we can all agree unambiguously, was elected by God, special and set apart in her role as the mother of Jesus. Some of her children became pillars of the church, and even wrote books of the Bible: James and Jude. Jesus’ brothers also clearly travelled with their wives encouraging the church (1 Corinthians 9:5). Joseph and Simon are named (Matt 13:55) and their sisters are referred to (Mark 6:3) but we have no record of which ones became Christians. So perhaps that explains why only “some” of her children are walking in the truth (verse 4). Jesus did entrust Mary to John’s care at the cross, to take her into his house and treat as his own mother (John 19:26-27), so it is appealing to think that John could be dutifully writing her, setting a good example for sons everywhere. Surely John loves Mary and surely all who love the truth love Mary too.
That is a good start. But…
For all the merits to this hypothesis, why would we be instructed to love her children if not all of them even believe? The brothers and sisters of Jesus certainly aren’t given an honorific position in the scriptures (see Matt 12:46-50), and John in his many writings doesn’t even bother naming them, a fact fairly incongruent with his words here being about them. In fact, in John 7:5 he states specifically that they did not believe in Jesus. Certainly James and Jude converted later, after the resurrection.
Unraveling Mary’s family is also challenging. Catholic tradition says that Mary was an only child and that Elizabeth was her aunt. In scripture, in the birth narrative recorded in Luke [4], Elizabeth is called Mary’s “relative”, but not her sister, consistent with this notion. If this tradition is correct, it would mean that Mary does not have a sister who could have children to send their greetings in 1 John 13. However, this Catholic tradition appears to be contrary to what is recorded in John 19:25 where scripture says that Mary has a “sister” who is next to her, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross (the grammar in Greek mirrors this sentence and it is possible that her sister is Mary the wife of Clopas, or alternately, that there are 4 women side by side at the foot of the cross). To me, the most likely person for Mary to end up calling her “sister”, if she is a single child, is Elizabeth, whom she seeks out when she is pregnant and needs support, as scripture records. If Mary is a single child, I could see her calling Elizabeth her “sister” even if she is her aunt, because they are particularly close friends with similar age babies. But Elizabeth cannot be the “sister” of 2 John because we know that she only was able to have one child miraculously, John the Baptist, who was beheaded. So Mary’s sister’s children could not send their greetings in verse 13! Perhaps the Catholics are wrong and Mary simply had a younger sister who could not help her in her time of need as a teen, but later had children who went on to be believers. None of this speculation is particularly persuasive either way to me.
I do find it hard to imagine John calling himself an Elder, as if to establish his authority, if he is talking to Mary Jesus’ mother. Is he hoping this will impress her, who raised Jesus? It is even more incongruent to imagine John ever telling Mary “to walk in obedience” to Jesus’ commands, or telling her to “walk in love” (verse 6). But I suppose everyone can use encouragement. What I find completely impossible is that John would ever suggest that Mary might “lose her reward” if she entertained the wrong folks in her house (verse 8). That would be hubris indeed. Neither would he ever say to her: “watch that you do not lose what we have worked for”. Does John dare to claim to have labored with Mary in her work? I think not! To me this is the real problem with this hypothesis. This chosen Lady clearly sounds like a co-laborer with John, not the mother of Jesus!
A third possibility is that Kuria is her name not a title. We might address the letter: “Dear chosen Kuria”. She shows up nowhere else that I am aware of, so we each must struggle with the mystery that the Holy Spirit inspired John to pen a real letter to this “chosen Lady and her children” who are loved by John and to be revered by the entire church.
Whoever inspired this letter, two thousand years later how can I “love” an anonymous first century woman and her children in any real sense, as they have long ago left this world?
For this is clearly what John insists.
Regardless of who this Lady was, I see her as a beautiful metaphor for the church, rather than a particularly revered matron. The Lady is His church, and her “children” are offspring churches still to be born. Every generation is thereby challenged to love the church, the Lady of our Lord Jesus Christ. The identification of the Lady as the church, makes the designation “chosen” crystal clear as the church is indeed the elect, the chosen of God who John rightly loves and calls us all to love with an agape love.
When I see her this way, I begin asking the right questions:
Do I share a selfless (agape) love for others in the church simply on the grounds that they too have accepted the truth about Jesus, or do I reserve my love for my own flesh and blood?
In verse 1 “knowing the truth” is a perfect tense verb, which means that John is saying that all those who have known the truth and continue to live out its implications will love the church selflessly. I believe this language helps us to grasp that it is a familial love that we are meant to feel with one another in the church, a love which we do not allow to grow cold, continuing to view everyone in the church as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Even when a church is large, and it is hard to get to know everyone well, we are still called to view each other as family.
2 John 2 – because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13), so that we can open our heart and allow Christ to live in our hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:17). Then his Spirit in us calls to the Father declaring that we are the sons and daughters of God (Galatians 4:6). The source of agape love, grace, mercy and peace, (see the next verse) both now and into the age to come, which we call eternity, is the Spirit who abides in us. The Spirit in us gives us the love we need to relate to the people of God as the beloved of God (his bride, his Lady) and to love the children of God as his children (little princes and princesses). The eternal truth about us, is that we are all now eternal royalty!
2 John 3 Grace mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
So often we seek fairness, justice and restitution. They sound like good values until you realize that they are the opposite of grace, mercy and peace. These three gifts offered by God and Jesus come at the cost of giving up your desire to get what you “deserve”. God offers a true end to striving which is peace based upon sacrificial agape love. This is not the peace that the world knows, but it is the peace that gives rest to our souls. It is very hard to extend mercy and grace, particularly when you are wronged. But when we experience the all encompassing grace and forgiveness of God that Jesus gave us on the cross, the truth of the grace and love we experience allows us to love others even in the midst of their brokenness.
I find it astounding that God orchestrated lives and events and created people such that John would write a letter to a chosen Lady that forever would minister to the entire church. Jesus is Lord, and clearly the church is the chosen Lady of Christ:
Ephesians 31-32 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Hard to believe that we only got through the salutation, but I promise, more to come…
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lady
[2] Or perhaps there is, in verse 3.
[3] See Acts 18.
[4] Luke 1:36
Atheist to Elder 