Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.
Parallel translations
- WEB Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
- KJV Remember 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.
- NKJV Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
- NASB Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.
- NLT Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.
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
Recalling that a servant is not greater than his master, Jesus says those who persecuted Him will persecute the disciples too. Followers share their Lord's treatment.
Overview
Jesus applies a saying He used earlier: disciples cannot expect better treatment than their master received. As the world persecuted Jesus, it will persecute His followers, though some will heed their word as some heeded His. This sets realistic expectations for ministry, mingling the certainty of opposition with the hope that the message will still be received by some.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 2 Tim 3:12Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
- John 13:16Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
- Matt 10:24A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
- Ezek 3:7But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.
- 1 Cor 4:12We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
- 2 Cor 4:9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
- John 8:51Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”
- Acts 4:27–30In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Luke 6:40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
- John 10:31At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
- 1 Th 2:15who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- Isa 53:1–3Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- John 7:32When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him.
- John 8:59At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
- Acts 7:52–60Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
- John 5:16Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.
- 1 Sam 8:7And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.
- Luke 2:34Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
- John 11:57But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 15:20 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.