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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 3:12Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
- John 13:16Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.
- Matt 10:24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.
- Ezek 3:7But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to me; for all the house of Israel are obstinate and hard-hearted.
- 1 Cor 4:12We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.
- 2 Cor 4:9pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;
- John 8:51Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
- Acts 4:27–30“For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
- Luke 6:40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
- John 10:31Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.
- 1 Th 2:15who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and didn’t please God, and are contrary to all men;
- Isa 53:1–3Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
- John 7:32The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
- John 8:59Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
- Acts 7:52–60Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
- John 5:16For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
- 1 Sam 8:7Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- Luke 2:34and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
- John 11:57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.
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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
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