¹⁴ "The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. Jeremiah 33:14

The prophet Jeremiah was a prophet of hope to the people of God during a difficult time in the history of Israel. He was also a prophet who brought the pure word of God to the people even when the message was not palatable to the hearers.

Chapter 33 begins with the prophet confined to the courtyard of the king because he had been accused of being a traitor. Jeremiah had given an unfavorable prophecy. The Prophet had said that Israel would go into exile at the hands of the king of Babylon. These were hard words for the king to take so the prophet was arrested and placed in custody at the king’s court.

In custody, the prophet had been receiving messages of consolation for the people of God. The messages pointed to a restoration of the Israel after captivity. These were not words that the people of God wanted to hear. They did not want to go to captivity in a foreign land and then return in the future. But the prophet had indicated that captivity was inevitable, however there was hope because God would bring God’s people out of exile to settle in the same land. 

Our verse for today affirms this promise from God. " 'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.” The promises of God are always gracious. That means the promises are full of grace. People do not get what they deserve when it comes to the promises of God. The promises as we understand them were made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. God was also indicating that any promise made to us in scripture would also be fulfilled. We do not serve a God who is a “yes and no God”. All the promises of God will come to pass.

During this advent season we are reminded of the promise of God to send the Messiah and he would come from the lineage of David. That was a promise that was fulfilled during the first advent.

Be blessed

Brother Seth

¹²Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. ¹³I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. ¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.          3 John 12-14

We are not told how Demetrius comes into the picture. It is most likely that he was the leader of the traveling missionaries who have been sent by apostle John. That would explain the need for the character reference given here. There were several other people who testified of Demetrius to make him trustworthy.

In the light of the resistance by Diotrephes, this testimony about Demetrius was needed if his mission was going to be successful. We have to thank God for people like Gaius and Demetrius who become a gift to the body of Christ in the face of difficult times. The apostle John was able to bear testimony to the fruit of Christian mission as he shared the example of these two individuals.

These two represented examples of the type of leadership that the apostle would like to see in a community of faith. Leading and loving have to go hand in hand just as much as strength and gentleness go together. Love is the key to true leadership.

There is much to what was happening in this community and the apostle was praying that his visit would clear some of the outstanding issues. He blessed the people with the peace of God. This is something we can all use at this time of the year as we celebrate the Prince of Peace.

Have a Christ filled Christmas.

Brother Seth

 ¹¹Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3 John 11

“Dear friend” used to begin this verse is in contrast to all that had been said earlier about Diotrephes. The friend being referred to here was Gaius, the recipient of this letter. It is refreshing to know that there are some positive images in this community. Gaius must have been one of the up and coming leaders in the community.

The apostle John admonished Gaius to imitate what is good and not what is evil. This young leader had been exposed to many styles of leadership. John was already convinced that Gaius was on the right path in imitating what was good. But it would not hurt to emphasize the obvious for this young leader in the community.

But the apostle was quick to point out that there was more to what he was talking about. It was not just a matter of imitating what is good or evil. It was about being born of God. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is produced in the life of anyone who has been born of the Spirit. The apostle did make an emphatic statement about this when he said: “anyone who does what is good is from God”. It is true that the fruit does not fall far from the tree. It would take the power of the Holy Spirit to do what is good.   

Have you seen God lately, then do what God says. Let us imitate what is good!        

Brother Seth

¹⁰ So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. 3John 1:10a

The apostle John was looking forward to a face-to-face meeting with Diotrephes. John was hoping to call attention to what Diotrephes was doing at that meeting. Now, John decided to highlight some of the activities of Diotrephes.

Diotrephes was accused of gossiping maliciously about the apostles. We are not told what was the subject of such gossip. Could it be that Diotrephes was one of those people who believed that the apostles were far removed from the action on the ground? Such malcontents saw authority at the headquarters as a problem that could be fixed by refusing to take instructions from the leadership of the church at Jerusalem.

Gossiping could include things like what they did with their time and the contributions from the local churches. There is wide latitude for gossip in these areas. Basically, gossip would mean spreading rumors that were completely false or spreading half-truths about the ministry of the apostles. The sad part of all this is that Diotrephes is a leader who was supposed to know better. He would not be happy if similar lies were spread in the community about him and his ministry.

People like Diotrephes, do weaken the witness of the Christian Church by their actions. Unfortunately, they drive some people away from the very gospel that the community is trying to present to the world.

We should remember to do to others the things that we would like them to do to us.  

Stay blessed.

 ⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 3 John 1:9

“I wrote to the church.” This suggests that the apostle John wrote an earlier letter to the community where Gaius was a member. There is no record of that letter. The recipient of that letter treated it with disrespect. The leader who received this letter was Diotrephes. He must have been very influential and powerful.

Just think about that. What would make any church reject the instructions from an apostle in Jerusalem? He must have his own reasons but we are not told that. However, from the point of view of the apostle John, Diotrephes was an individual who loved to be first.

John was saying that this individual had issues with control. He wanted to be the number one in this community of faith and he therefore saw the apostle John and the traveling evangelists as people who were meddling in the affairs of the local community. The gospels remind us that those who seek to be first must be the servants of all. 

This was something Diotrephes had no intention of doing. He did not even want to be at the service of the apostles. An analysis of the situation will reveal that this individual had problems with insecurity. It could also be that he was just an angry person who did not want to be bothered by those who claimed apostolic authority.

Diotrephes did not want to have anything to do with the apostles. He saw them as interfering with his local administration of the community. It is sad to observe that these angry leaders would be occasionally found in churches today. Things have to be done their way or else no one was going to do anything. People like Diotrephes are in the church but they miss the point when it comes to what the church is all about. The love of Christ that is extended to the whole world has to be lived out in practical terms by members of the church. Those who forget the centrality of the love of Christ act in unhealthy ways in the community.

Let us pray for one another so that we do not hinder the work of God with a desire to be first.

Be blessed

Brother Seth