published it at Ephesus! And it appears from the “ Apostolic Constitutions” (vii. 46) that one Gaius was ordained by St. John first ‘‘ bishop” of Pergamum.
Whatever be the value of these traditions, it is evident that Gaius was a prominent personage, probably bishop or presbyter, in one of the churches of Asia Minor, and St. Paul’s description of Gaius of Corinth, “the host of me and of the whole Church,” might have been written of him. Trouble had arisen in his congregation, the ringleader being Diotrephes, probably a wealthy layman. The primitive Church was rent by factions, each swearing by one or other of the great teachers (cf. 1 Cor. i. 10-17), and it may be that Diotrephes belonged to the Pauline faction and abjured St. John and disowned his authority.2— The actual truth, however, is that he was an opinionative and domineering man who insisted on having his own way in everything. The occasion of the trouble was a visit which had been paid to the Church of Gaius by a company of itinerant evangelists (wandernde Glaubensboten). This order of “ prophets ’’ was a recognised institution. Their office was to travel about preaching to the Gentiles and seeking to win them to the Faith. There were sometimes unworthy men among them who traded on the Gospel and merited the stinging epithet of “ Christ- traffickers (χριστέµποροι),᾽ and very stringent regulations are laid down regarding them in the Didache ;* but their ministry was a needful and heroic one. They abandoned everything for Christ’s sake and, to obviate misrepresentation, took nothing from the Gen- tiles—no food, no lodging. Thus they were dependent on the good offices of the believers wherever they went, and it was a debt of honour to see that they suffered no lack. Gaius had given a hospit- able welcome to that company of “prophets”; but Diotrephes, disowning the Apostle’s authority, opposed the reception of his emissaries and would have denied them entertainment. On their return to Ephesus they reported the incident at a meeting of the Church; and St. John wrote this letter and sent it by Demetrius, commending the action of Gaius and intimating his intention of
1 τὸ δὲ κατὰ ᾿Ιωάννην εὐαγγέλιον ὑπηγορεύθη τε Um αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου ᾿Ιωάννου τοῦ ἀποστόλου καὶ ἠγαπημένου, ὄντος ἐξορίστου ἐν Matpw τῇ νήσῳ, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐξεδόθη ἐν ᾿Εφέσῳ διὰ Γαΐου τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ καὶ ξενοδόχου τῶν ἀποστόλων, περὶ οὗ καὶ Παῦλος 'Ῥωμαίοις γράφων φησί" ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Γάϊος ὃ ξένος µου καὶ ὅλης τῆς ἐκκλησίας.
21: has been thought incredible that the great Apostle should have been so cavalierly treated (cf. verses 9, 10), but great men are usually less honoured by their contemporaries than by after generations.
3 xi-xiii. Cf. 2 John το, 11.