I had many things to write to thee, but I will not with ink and pen write to thee;
John's last letter ends the way a long visit ends at the door — with more to say than there is time to say it. He had enough for a much fuller one, but he put down the pen — and his reason tells us what he valued more than paper.
The letter is brief because only the pressing matter needed ink. Everything else could wait for the visit.
Our little letter closes in much the same way as the second. As with the elect lady, so with Gaius, the face-to-face conversation was far better than the letter. But one thing was urgent and allowed no delay: strengthening the elect lady against the quiet approaches of evil. It was just as urgent to confirm Gaius in receiving and supporting those who were good and true, even when others refused them.
One reason was simply physical:
John "had much to write": far more than could fit on a single sheet of papyrus.
The word covers more than one kind of writing tool in the Bible:
A general term for any tool used to cut an inscription into stone or metal. It also means a reed for writing on papyrus or parchment. Judges 5:14; Job 19:24; Psalm 45:1; Isaiah 8:1; Jeremiah 8:8; Jeremiah 17:1; 3 John 13.
John had power to work miracles behind him, yet what he wanted was a conversation with a friend. Where these writers quote the next verse as speaking "mouth to mouth," the ESV reads "talk face to face."
The Holy Spirit gave power to work signs and wonders and mighty works. Yet He also gave power to work as though one were nothing oneself. The inspired man had many things to write with ink and pen. But he hoped to see his beloved Gaius, when "we shall speak mouth to mouth." He preferred living fellowship, and wished him peace in the meantime.
Preferring a conversation does not lower the value of the written page. Timothy heard Paul in person. We have the letters instead, and that is God's arrangement, not a loss.
In the main we have this too, in Paul's letters, to mention no others. It pleased God to make it permanent, for our instruction, encouragement, warning and general blessing. Yet we cannot have what Timothy enjoyed so much: speaking "mouth to mouth." Another apostle uses that phrase, and he valued such talk highly compared with paper and ink and pen (2 John 12; 3 John 13-14). Yet each has its own excellence, and everything is surely arranged in its season.
There is nothing grand about how the letter signs off, and that plainness is itself a mark of Scripture.
How simple and true are the closing words of this third letter, as of the second! Great artists used to paint not only the Lord but the apostles and the saints with a halo over the head. Scripture speaks of them all with plain simplicity. The Lord is the meekest and lowliest of men. The apostles differ from other believers in deeper self-denial, and in a more vivid sense of abiding in God — the privilege of His grace.
The hope of seeing a friend points to a far greater meeting.
Both letters end with a coming face-to-face meeting. Let us remember that some blessed day there will be a "face to face" meeting. The saints of God will meet together for eternal fellowship. Above all, we shall be face to face with Him.
Something larger also stops with this letter:
Not everything has been told. Revelation reached John, and nothing more is to be added with pen and ink. The volume of written inspiration is closed. The paper and the ink are filled up and used to the full. John was the last to use it. But, as we know, what we now see "in a mirror dimly" we shall see "face to face."
- Unwritten. John had far more to say than the sheet in front of him could hold; he wrote only what could not wait.
- Urgent. Only one thing could not wait: strengthening Gaius to receive and support faithful workers.
- Unassuming. The letter ends with no display of rank — the plain speech of a man who valued a friend more than a flourish.
- Unhurried. He saved the rest for a conversation, preferring living fellowship to ink and pen — yet the written word keeps its own excellence.
- Unfinished. The pen stops here, and written revelation stops with it. What remains is the face-to-face meeting, above all with Him.
but I hope soon to see thee, and we will speak mouth to mouth. Peace [be] to thee. The friends greet thee. Greet the friends by name.
The letter closes the way a personal note ends: travel plans, a wish of peace, and greetings passed on. But this letter has just exposed Diotrephes, a man who pushed himself to the front and shut others out. So even the last lines carry weight about how believers treat one another.
One commentator draws out what John chose instead of ink and pen.
The inspired writer had many things to write with ink and pen, but he hoped to see his beloved Gaius and talk face to face. He preferred living fellowship, and wished him peace meanwhile. Here we have the friends greeting one another, and in no vague way but "by name." As in the second of John's letters, it is a family greeting: "The children of your elect sister greet you."
The wish of peace is not filler. It meets Gaius in the middle of real trouble.
"Peace be to you" is a greeting familiar to Jews. Here it is so fitting, given the pressure of Diotrephes' maliciousness.
John calls these believers "the friends." One commentator traces the word back to what Jesus said to His disciples.
In the closing sentences the Apostle speaks of the brethren who were with him and those with Gaius as "the friends." This carries our minds back to John 15. There the Lord says, "You are My friends if you do what I command you." He says again, "I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." The obedient saint is the one brought into this wonderful intimacy, and so acknowledged as a friend of Christ.
In this letter the gathering of believers has itself become a place of conflict. The title still marks out a small group.
This is of very deep interest. In one of the very last of the inspired Epistles, probably the last of all, John has to speak of the assembly as the scene of tyranny and strife. Yet he speaks of those who were true as THE FRIENDS. They were clearly not many, but they were all known by name. They were keeping the Lord's commands, and this remarkable honour rested on them: they carried the name "friends."
"By name" turns a polite sign-off into a pattern for church life. It refuses to treat believers as a crowd.
Gaius was to greet the friends by name. They did not form a nameless mass, as if each person's individuality and personality did not matter. Gaius was not to greet in a vague way, but everyone, individually, by name. The assembly should be a closely knit community. All should know each other personally, and be able to greet one another by name.
One writer links John's hoped-for visit to a far greater meeting.
Both Epistles end with a coming face to face meeting. Let us remember that some blessed day there will be a "face to face" meeting. The saints of God will meet together for eternal fellowship. Above all, we shall be face to face with Him.
A letter that names Diotrephes could leave a reader discouraged. One commentator warns against that very reaction.
We are not to fall under the cloud of evil. There is always a danger of throwing up one's hands and saying that all is gone. I could never sympathise with so unbelieving a thought. The worst evil is spreading, and quite a few who seemed faithful have broken down. That is all the more reason to distrust ourselves, and yet to stay close to the Lord with purpose of heart. Let us never forget that the Holy Spirit stays in us and with us for ever. He works to gather to His name even more than to convert sinners, though He does both.
- Face to face — John cuts the letter short. He prefers living fellowship, and saves the rest until he arrives.
- Peace first — the greeting of peace meets Gaius under the pressure of Diotrephes' malice.
- Friends, by obedience — the title goes back to Jesus' words in John 15. Obedience brings the believer into that intimacy.
- Friends, by name — not an anonymous crowd, but a close community where each person is known and greeted by name.
- Friends, unshaken — the spread of evil is no reason to give up. The Spirit stays to gather to Christ's name, and John's hoped-for visit points to the day we see Him face to face.