Limitless Word
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
John 12:26 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
  • BSB If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
  • NKJV If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
  • NASB If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
  • NLT Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

To serve Jesus is to follow him, and the Father will honor such a servant. Discipleship means going where Jesus goes.

Overview

Jesus calls his servants to follow him, even along the path of self-giving and death. The promise that the servant will be with him and honored by the Father grounds discipleship in glorious hope. Following Jesus, including the way of the cross, leads to fellowship with him and the Father's approval.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 33

  • Col 3:24Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
  • Gal 1:10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
  • 1 Sam 2:30Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
  • John 10:27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
  • John 17:24Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
  • 1 Jn 5:3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
  • Rom 1:1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
  • Ps 91:15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
  • 1 Th 4:17–18Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
  • 2 Cor 5:8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
  • Jude 1:1Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
  • Rom 14:18For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
  • Prov 27:18Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
  • John 14:3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
  • Luke 6:46And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
  • Num 14:24But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
  • John 15:20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
  • Eph 5:1–2Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
  • 2 Cor 4:5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
  • Matt 25:21His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
  • 2 Pet 1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
  • Phil 1:23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
  • John 13:16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
  • Luke 9:23And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
  • Mark 8:34And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
  • Matt 16:24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
  • John 14:15If ye love me, keep my commandments.
  • Col 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
  • Rev 14:4These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
  • John 14:21–23He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
  • Num 32:11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
  • John 21:22Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 12:26YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 12:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.