AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N
S,
OF THE SECOND EPISTLE OF
J
O H N
HERE
we find a canonical epistle inscribed, principally, not only to a single
person, but to one also of the softer sex. And why not to one of that sex? In
gospel redemption, privilege, and dignity, there is neither male nor
female; they are both one in Christ Jesus. Our Lord himself
neglected his own repast, to commune with the woman of Samaria, in order to
show her the fountain of life; and, when almost expiring upon the cross, he
would with his dying lips bequeath his blessed mother to the care of his
beloved disciple, and thereby instruct him to respect female disciples for the
future. It was to one of the same sex that our Lord chose to appear first
after his return from the grave, and to send by her the news of his
resurrection to this as well as to the other apostles; and we find afterwards
a zealous Priscilla so well acquitting herself in her Christian race, and
particularly in some hazardous service towards the apostle Paul, that she is
not only often mentioned before her husband, but to her as well as to him, not
only the apostle himself, but also all the Gentile churches, were ready to
return their thankful acknowledgments. No wonder then that a heroine in the
Christian religion, honoured by divine providence, and distinguished by divine
grace, should be dignified also by an apostolical epistle.
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