As we begin our study of 2 John, I want to take one episode to sketch the background to the letter. As we’ve seen, 1 John was written to the people who remained in his community after the secessionists left. Second John, by contrast, is written to one or more other communities. But some of the issues are the same, because the letter deals with the aftermath of the split. Those who left his community have begun taking their false teaching elsewhere, and John wants to warn others not to give them a platform for their harmful views about Jesus.