2 John 1, "The elder unto the elect lady and her
children…" There are many different theories about who (or what) this
“elect lady” is. Some say she is a metaphor for the church, chosen of God. Since
the church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25,32; 2 Corinthians 11:2), some
say John used the imagery of a chosen woman as a metaphor for the Lord’s
church. Others believe, since the meaning of Bible names often have significance,
the Greek word translated lady in our
Bibles was actually her name, Cyria, while others say her name was Electos
(elect). I believe John wrote to a particular woman, and addressed her as “the
elect lady” just as it’s written. It's always best to believe what the Bible
says. There are many different theories and they can’t all be right. However, this
truth is not such a weighty matter that we need to fight and argue about it.
Truth is important – all truth is important. But some truths have a greater
weight than others (Matthew 23:23).
Truth matters. You might say, "What's the big deal,
what you believe about who this lady is?" It's very possible for two
people to be wrong about the elect lady and still apply the text of 2 John the
same way. But there are potential consequences for misinterpreting this
passage. Once you begin to allegorize parts of Scripture, without Biblical
cause, where does it end? If the "elect lady" is a church, then is
the "house" in verse 10 a house? If not, what does the house
represent and why? What about the "paper and ink" in verse 12? What
does that represent? If the lady is not a lady, but a metaphor, how do I know
if ink is ink? Good Biblical interpretation takes the passage literally unless
there is Biblical justification to do otherwise. So it may not be a big deal,
who this lady is in the grand scheme of things, but how you get to what you
believe could have ramifications. Little foxes spoil the vine.
If the letter was written to a church, and not an
individual, the letter takes on a completely different tone. The aged John
writes to a woman, whose husband, for
whatever reason, is out of the picture. She continues to preserve, along with
her children, following her Lord and Saviour. John warns her of men, who prey
up on widowed women and their kind hospitality, to introduce damnable heresy. If
the letter was written to a church, the letter gets less specific, and the
application of verse 10 to "receive [false teachers] not into your house,
neither bid him God speed," becomes unclear. Also, just read the letter, substituting "Lady" with a woman's name, Samantha, for example. It's clear and understandable. You can see John writing a letter to his dear friend in Christ. Now, substitute 'Lady" with Buffalo Valley Baptist Church. Not only does it seem a little clunky, but it raises questions about being "children" of the church and what that even means, and why the children where away from the assembly. And, since not all of her children were walking in truth, why was John not concerned with church discipline? A big part of the letter becomes unclear.
Truth matters. And while some truth may be weightier than
others as Jesus said, He did not mean to say some truths are not important. He
condemned the Pharisees for being so scrupulous about tithing, but neglecting
the "weightier matters of the law." Their problem was not paying attention
to small things, but neglecting the big things.
