[CHAPTER 1]

1. The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I truly love, and not only I, but also all of those who have come to know the truth

Chosen lady: possibly a particular woman named Kuria, whose name is the feminine version of “lord”, but possibly a code name for the bride of Messiah, who is often called by the masculine title, kurios, in the Greek translation.

2. through the truth that remains in us and that will be with us into the Age.

The Age: that is, the Age to Come, when Messiah will have his visible throne on earth and his bride will rule and reign with him.

3. Favor, mercy, and peace from Elohim the Father and from Yeshua the Messiah, the Father’s Son, will be with us, in truth and love.

4. I was intensely gladdened to have found out that some of your children are walking in truth, according to the commandment that we received from the Father.

5. And now lady, I request special consideration: not as if I was writing to you a new command, but that which we have had since the beginning—that we should love one another.

6. And this is love: that we should walk according to His commandments. This—the commandment—is [still] the same as what you heard since the beginning, so that you can walk in it,

7. because many misleaders have gone out into the world—those who do not agree that Yeshua the Messiah has come in the flesh. This is the misleader and the one who tries to take the place of the Messiah.

Misleaders: those who wander aimlessly or cause others to do so, thus dissipating knowledge so the truth is difficult to find. Agree: admit, confess, concur, assent—literally, “say the same as”. In the flesh: There was a widespread Gnostic teaching that Yeshua could not have actually been human, but only looked that way, because they could not understand that he was more human than any of us, having never lost the image of Elohim or at best had it severely diminished, as the rest of us did. They thought he must have been an angelic being instead, but this would mean his blood was not human, and would thus not have been the right payment for humans’ sins. Take the place: i.e., unseat him and sit in his position, or oppose in a more general way. Not that they thought they had to defeat him physically, as in a war; to redefine him would have the same debilitating and diluting effect on the message he left for us to proclaim:

8. Take a good look at yourselves, [to be sure] you do not allow the things for which we have worked so hard to be lost, but [rather] you might [deserve to] receive back a full compensation.

9. Anyone who [tries to] run ahead and does not stay [and wait for] the Messiah’s instruction does not have Elohim; the one who does remain with the instruction—this one has [possession of] both the Father and the Son.

Run ahead: like someone in a group who assumes they know where the leader is taking them and goes on in front of him, not watching to see if the rest are still with him. The word means to strike out on one’s own or to go too far, thinking they are making progress, when in fact they are going off on a tangent and will get themselves and anyone else in the group who does not wait for the leader lost. Have Elohim: i.e., hold fast to Him, have a grasp of what He is about. Also remember that “instruction” is what the Hebrew word “torah” actually means. (Compare v. 6) If we imagine Yeshua as merely pointing the way and encouraging us to find the truth on our own, we will lose track of what he is still doing, and thereby lose the best connection we ever had to YHWH, for staying connected with him who is fully connected to the Father will keep us receiving of the sap that flows through his vine. (Yochanan 15:5ff)

10. If anyone comes to you and does not uphold this teaching, do not receive him into [your] house, and do not speak favorably of him,

Uphold: or bring, carry along with him as his “tenet”. Speak favorably: Aramaic, “tell him, ‘shalom!’”

11. [because] the one who speaks favorably of him participates in his troublesome deeds.

12. [Though I] have many things to write to you, I resolved not [to do so] through paper and ink; rather, I expect to be able to come to you and speak with you face to face, so that our joy may become complete.

Face to face: literally, mouth to mouth. Expect: or, hope.

13. Give my regards to the children of your favorite sister.

Give my regards to: Aramaic, seek out the total well-being of. Favorite: or chosen, selected, as in verse 1. This suggests that he is writing to a particular individual, but again it may be a code name for a sister congregation nearby with whom they could share his letter, and whose welfare they should indeed look out for in dangerous times of persecution, because their proximity made them natural allies.

THE SECOND LETTER FROM
Yochanan

INTRODUCTION:    This was written by one of the three men closest to Yeshua, one of the students he taught most intensively, so he should have one of the best grasps of what Yeshua had in mind as his mission. He warns against some who are not getting the right point, and by taking the teaching in their own direction, are undermining the actual message Yeshua told his students to relay. He warns against complicating the message, for it lines up with the commands that YHWH gave from earliest times.