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"Now I plead with you..."

Text: 2 John 5

WALKING FAITHFULLY WITH THE LORD

The Apostle John knew how challenging it was to walk with the Lord in truth. There were so many things that could cause a person to cease walking with the Lord.

1. The influence of the world.

2. The sinful inclinations from within the heart.

3. The attacks of the Evil One.

Any of these challenges could cause a believer to stumble and be lost to the world! Thus every effort must be made to encourage the believer to persevere to walk with the Lord faithfully.

MOVING WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

It is in this light that John wrote the following words of encouragement to the elect lady.

“And now I plead with you, lady,
not as though I wrote a new commandment to you,
but that which we have had from the beginning:
that we love one another.”
2 John 5

1. Different expressions

In order to appreciate John’s use of the word “lady”, it would be good to look at how other expressions were employed.

a) The word translated “woman” (John 2:4 Greek: “gune”)

The Lord Jesus used a very simple word to describe His biological mother.

i) Literally translated, it simply means “Woman”.

ii) Idiomatically understood, it is a term of formal respect.

b) The word translated “lady” (2 John 1, 5; Greek: “kuria”)

John did not use the word that Jesus employed.

i) The word is the feminine counterpart of the word “kurios” (often translated as “lord”)

ii) The word “lady” is therefore a formal way of addressing this friend of the Apostle John.

iii) She may well be a lady of noble birth.

iv) John certainly had high respect for her.

2. “And now I plead with you, lady”

a) The word “plead” expresses a formal request.

i) The simpler alternative would be the word “aiteo” in Greek.

ii) The word used here “erotao” would be a more formal word, implying request.

b) John defers to her as a person of some stature.

c) The language employed here suggests that he is giving a strong but humble word of encouragement to the elect lady. Deference may be noted in the tone found in the word.