The greatest among you must be a servant.
Parallel translations
- WEB But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.
- KJV But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
- BSB The greatest among you shall be your servant.
- NKJV But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
- NASB But the greatest of you shall be your servant.
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
The greatest among Jesus' followers is the one who serves. It overturns worldly notions of greatness with the standard of humble service.
Overview
In God's kingdom, status is measured not by rank or honor but by self-giving service to others. This reverses the values the Pharisees cherished. Jesus himself is the supreme example, the Lord who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Cor 9:19For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
- Gal 5:13For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
- John 13:14–15If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
- Mark 10:43–44But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.
- 2 Cor 4:5For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake;
- Luke 22:26–27But not so with you. But one who is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves.
- Phil 2:5–8Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
- Matt 20:26–27It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 23:11 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.