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Text -- Matthew 20:26 (NET)

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Context
20:26 It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,
Parallel   Cross Reference (TSK)   ITL  

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Dictionary Themes and Topics: WAGES | Servanthood | Pride | Minister | Matthew, Gospel according to | Mankind | MINISTRY | Jesus, The Christ | JESUS CHRIST, 4D | Humility | GREAT; GREATNESS | GOD, 3 | Fellowship | Commandments | BISHOP | AUTHORITY IN RELIGION | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Robertson , Vincent , Wesley , Clarke , Calvin , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes


Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Barclay , Constable , College , McGarvey , Lapide

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Mat 20:26 - -- Would become great ( hos an thelēi megas genesthai ). Jesus does not condemn the desire to become great. It is a laudable ambition. There are "grea...

Would become great ( hos an thelēi megas genesthai ).

Jesus does not condemn the desire to become great. It is a laudable ambition. There are "great ones"(megaloi ) among Christians as among pagans, but they do not "lord it over"one another (katakurieuousin ), a lxx word and very expressive, or "play the tyrant"(katexousiazousin ), another suggestive word.

Robertson: Mat 20:26 - -- Your minister ( hūmōn diakonos ). This word may come from dia and konis (dust), to raise a dust by one’ s hurry, and so to minister. It ...

Your minister ( hūmōn diakonos ).

This word may come from dia and konis (dust), to raise a dust by one’ s hurry, and so to minister. It is a general word for servant and is used in a variety of ways including the technical sense of our "deacon"in Phi 1:1. But it more frequently is applied to ministers of the Gospel (1Co 3:5). The way to be "first"(prōtos ), says Jesus, is to be your "servant"(doulos ), "bond-servant"(Mat 20:27). This is a complete reversal of popular opinion then and now.

Vincent: Mat 20:26 - -- Will be great ( θέλῃ εἶναι ) See on Mat 20:14. Rev. would be .

Will be great ( θέλῃ εἶναι )

See on Mat 20:14. Rev. would be .

Vincent: Mat 20:26 - -- Minister ( διάκονος ) Servant, Mat 20:27 ( δοῦλος ) Δοῦλος , perhaps from δέω , to bind , is the bondman, rep...

Minister ( διάκονος ) Servant, Mat 20:27 ( δοῦλος )

Δοῦλος , perhaps from δέω , to bind , is the bondman, representing the permanent relation of servitude. Διάκονος , probably from the same root as διώκω , to pursue, represents a servant, not in his relation, but in his activity. The term covers both slaves and hired servants. The attendants at the feast at Cana (Joh 2:5) are called διάικονοι . In the epistles διάκονος is often used specifically for a minister of the Gospel (1Co 3:5; 2Co 3:6; Eph 3:7). The word deacon is, moreover, almost a transcription of it (Phi 1:1; 1Ti 3:8, 1Ti 3:12). It is applied to Phoebe (Rom 16:1).

Wesley: Mat 20:26 - -- That is, your servant. Mat 23:11.

That is, your servant. Mat 23:11.

Clarke: Mat 20:26 - -- It shall not be so among you - Every kind of lordship and spiritual domination over the Church of Christ, like that exercised by the Church of Rome,...

It shall not be so among you - Every kind of lordship and spiritual domination over the Church of Christ, like that exercised by the Church of Rome, is destructive and anti-christian

Clarke: Mat 20:26 - -- Your minister - Or, deacon, διακονος . I know no other word which could at once convey the meaning of the original, and make a proper disti...

Your minister - Or, deacon, διακονος . I know no other word which could at once convey the meaning of the original, and make a proper distinction between it and δουλος, or servant, in Mat 20:27. The office of a deacon, in the primitive Church, was to serve in the agapae , or love feasts, to distribute the bread and wine to the communicants; to proclaim different parts and times of worship in the churches; and to take care of the widows, orphans, prisoners, and sick, who were provided for out of the revenues of the Church. Thus we find it was the very lowest ecclesiastical office. Deacons were first appointed by the apostles, Act 6:1-6; they had the care of the poor, and preached occasionally.

Calvin: Mat 20:26 - -- 26.It shall not be so among you There can be no doubt that Christ refers to the foolish imagination by which he saw that the apostles were deceived. ...

26.It shall not be so among you There can be no doubt that Christ refers to the foolish imagination by which he saw that the apostles were deceived. “It is foolish and improper in you,” he says, “to imagine a kingdom, which is unsuitable to me; and therefore, if you desire to serve me faithfully, you must resort to a different method, which is, that each of you may strive to serve others.” 666 But whoever wishes to be great among you, let him be your servant. These words are employed in an unusual sense; for ambition does not allow a man to be devoted, or, rather, to be subject to his brethren. Abject flattery, I do acknowledge, is practiced by those who aspire to honors, but nothing is farther from their intention than to serve But Christ’s meaning is not difficult to be perceived. As every man is carried away by a love of himself, he declares that this passion ought to be directed to a different object. Let the only greatness, eminence, and rank, which you desire, be, to submit to your brethren; and let this be your primacy, to be the servants of all.

TSK: Mat 20:26 - -- it : Mat 23:8-12; Mar 9:35, Mar 10:43, Mar 10:45; Luk 14:7-11, Luk 18:14; Joh 18:36; 2Co 1:24; 2Co 10:4-10; 1Pe 5:3; 3Jo 1:9, 3Jo 1:10; Rev 13:11-17, ...

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Mat 20:20-28 - -- See also Mar 10:35-45. Mat 20:20 Then came to him give mother of Zebedee’ s children ... - This was probably Salome, Mar 15:40; Mar ...

See also Mar 10:35-45.

Mat 20:20

Then came to him give mother of Zebedee’ s children ... - This was probably Salome, Mar 15:40; Mar 16:1.

With her sons - The names of these sons were James and John, Mar 10:35

Mark says they came and made the request. That is, they made it, as appears from Matthew, through the medium of their mother; they requested her to ask it for them. It is not improbable that she was an ambitious woman, and was desirous to see her sons honored.

Worshipping him - Showing him respect; respectfully saluting him. In the original, kneeling. See the notes at Mat 8:2.

Mat 20:21

Grant that these my two sons may sit ... - They were still looking for a temporal kingdom.

They expected that he would reign on the earth with great pomp and glory. They anticipated that he would conquer as a prince and a warrior. They wished to be distinguished in the day of his triumph. To sit on the right and left hand of a prince was a token of confidence, and the highest honor granted to his friends, 1Ki 2:19; Psa 110:1; 1Sa 20:25. The disciples, here, had no reference to the kingdom of heaven, but only to the kingdom which they supposed he was about to set up on the earth.

Mat 20:22

Ye know not what ye ask - You do not know the nature of your request, nor what would be involved in it.

You suppose that it would be attended only with honor and happiness if the request was granted, whereas it would require much suffering and trial.

Are ye able to drink of the cup ... - To drink of a cup, in the Scriptures, often signifies to be afflicted, or to be punished, Mat 26:39; Isa 51:17, Isa 51:22; Psa 73:10; Psa 75:8; Jer 25:15; Rev 16:9. The figure is taken from a feast, where the master of a feast extends a cup to those present. Thus God is represented as extending to his Son a cup filled with a bitter mixture - one causing deep sufferings, Joh 18:11. This was the cup to which he referred.

The baptism that I am baptized with - This is evidently a phrase denoting the same thing. Are ye able to suffer with me - to endure the trials and pains which shall come upon you and me in endeavoring to build up my kingdom? Are you able to bear it when sorrows shall cover you like water, and you shall be sunk beneath calamities as floods, in the work of religion? Afflictions are often expressed by being sunk in the floods and plunged in deep waters, Psa 69:2; Isa 43:2; Psa 124:4-5; Lam 3:54.

Mat 20:23

Ye shall indeed drink of my cup ... - You will follow me, and you will partake of my afflictions, and will suffer as I shall.

This was fulfilled. James was slain with the sword by Herod, Act 12:2. John lived many years; but he attended the Saviour through his sufferings, and was himself banished to Patmos, a solitary island, for the testimony of Jesus Christ - a companion of others in tribulation, Rev 1:9.

Is not mine to give ... - The translation of this place evidently does not express the sense of the original. The translation expresses the idea that Jesus has nothing to do in bestowing rewards on his followers. This is at variance with the uniform testimony of the Scriptures, Mat 25:31-40; Joh 5:22-30. The correct translation of the passage would be, "To sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, except to those for whom it is prepared by my Father."The passage thus declares that Christ would give rewards to his followers, but only to such as should be entitled to them according to the purpose of his Father. Much as he might be attached to these two disciples, yet he could not bestow any such signal favors on them out of the regular course of things. Rewards were prepared for his followers, and in due time they should be bestowed. He would bestow them according as they had been provided from eternity by God the Father, Mat 25:34. The correct sense is seen by leaving out that part of the verse in italics, and this is one of the places in the Bible where the sense has been obscured by the introduction of words which have nothing to correspond with them in the original. See a similar instance in 1Jo 2:23.

Mat 20:24

The ten heard it - That is, the ten other apostles.

They were moved with indignation - They were offended at their ambition, and at their desire to be exalted above their brethren.

The word "it"refers not to what Jesus said, but to their request. When the ten heard the request which they had made they were indignant.

Mat 20:25-27

But Jesus called them unto him - That is, he called all the apostles to him, and stated the principles on which they were to act.

The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them - That is, over their subjects. "You know that such honors are customary among nations. The kings of the earth raise their favorites to posts of trust and power they give authority to some over others; but my kingdom is established in a different manner. All are to be on a level. The rich, the poor, the learned, the unlearned, the bond, the free, are to be equal. He will be the most distinguished that shows most humility, the deepest sense of his unworthiness, and the most earnest desire to promote the welfare of his brethren."

Gentiles - All who were not Jews - used here to denote the manner in which human governments are constituted.

Minister - A servant. The original word is deacon - a word meaning a servant of any kind; one especially who served at the table, and, in the New Testament, one who serves the church, Act 6:1-4; 1Ti 3:8. Preachers of the gospel are called minister’ s because they are the servants of God and of the church 1Co 3:5; 1Co 4:1; 2Co 3:6; 2Co 6:4; Eph 4:12; an office, therefore, which forbids them to lord it over God’ s heritage, which is the very opposite of a station of superiority, and which demands the very lowest degree of humility.

Mat 20:28

Even as the Son of man ... - See the notes at Mat 8:20. Jesus points them to his own example. He was in the form of God in heaven, Phi 2:6. He came to people in the form of a servant, Phi 2:7. He came not with pomp and glory, but as a man in humble life; and since he came he had not required them to minister to him. "He labored for them."He strove to do them good. He provided for their needs; fared as poorly as they did; went before them in dangers and sufferings; practiced self-denial on their account, and for them was about to lay down his life. See Joh 13:4-5.

To give his life a ransom for many - The word "ransom"means literally a price paid for the redemption of captives. In war, when prisoners are taken by an enemy, the money demanded for their release is called a ransom; that is, it is the means by which they are set at liberty. So anything that releases anyone from a state of punishment, or suffering, or sin, is called a ransom. People are by nature captives to sin. They are sold under it. They are under condemnation, Eph 2:3; Rom 3:9-20, Rom 3:23; 1Jo 5:19. They are under a curse, Gal 3:10. They are in love with sin They are under its withering dominion, and are exposed to death eternal, Eze 18:4; Psa 9:17; Psa 11:6; Psa 68:2; Psa 139:19; Mat 25:46; Rom 2:6-9. They must have perished unless there had been some way by which they could he rescued. This was done by the death of Jesus - by giving his life a ransom. The meaning is, that he died in the place of sinners, and that God was willing to accept the pains of his death in the place of the eternal suffering of the redeemed. The reasons why such a ransom was necessary are:

1.\caps1     t\caps0 hat God had declared that the sinner shall die; that is, that he would punish, or show his hatred to, all sin.

2.\caps1     t\caps0 hat all people had sinned, and, if justice was to take its regular course, all must perish.

3.\caps1     t\caps0 hat man could make no atonement for his own sins. All that he could do, were he holy, would be only to do his duty, and would make no amends for the past. Repentance and future obedience would not blot away one sin.

4.    No man was pure, and no angel could make atonement. God was pleased, therefore, to appoint his only-begotten Son to make such a ransom. See Joh 3:16; 1Jo 4:10; 1Pe 1:18-19; Rev 13:8; Joh 1:29; Eph 5:2; Heb 8:2-7; Isa 53:1-12; This is commonly called the atonement. See the notes at Rom 5:2.

For many - See also Mat 26:28; Joh 10:15; 1Ti 2:6; 1Jo 2:2; 2Co 5:14-15; Heb 2:9.

Poole: Mat 20:25-27 - -- Ver. 25-27. So Mark hath much the same, Mar 10:42-44 . Luke hath also much the same, (but it seemeth spoken at another time), Luk 22:25-27 . I shall ...

Ver. 25-27. So Mark hath much the same, Mar 10:42-44 . Luke hath also much the same, (but it seemeth spoken at another time), Luk 22:25-27 . I shall not here intermeddle with the disputes some have founded on this text: Whether there may be a civil, magistracy amongst Christians; a thing undoubtedly foreign to the sense of this text. Or, Whether Christ here establisheth a party amongst ministers; which I do not think our Lord’ s design here. Nor yet with that other question, Whether ministers of the gospel may take upon them the exercise of any civil power. That which our Saviour here intends is,

1. To distinguish his kingdom from the kingdoms of the world. Those kingdoms are over men’ s bodies and estates; his was a spiritual kingdom, over the hearts and consciences of men. Or rather, his was a kingdom of glory, where there would be no need of rulers and magistrates, as in the government of the world, nor any such exercise of authority as is here exercised in the government of earthly kingdoms and politics.

2. To condemn ambition and pride in his disciples, as making them most unfit for this kingdom, which is a thing he had before taught them. The way to be greatest in heaven is to be humblest, to be low and mean in our own eyes. This I think to be the most proper interpretation of this text; our Lord by it correcting the erroneous opinion his disciples had of the nature of his kingdom, as also their pride and ambition, and pressing upon them other studies, than how to be the greatest in any earthly kingdom. If any do think that in this text our Lord hath some respect to the kingdom he hath upon earth, he rather checks ambition, and an affectation of superiority, than any thing else, and lets us know that such as love the preeminence are most unfit for it; that the work of heads of the church is but a ministry, not a domination; and that those who are fittest for it, and deserve most honour in the church, are those that least seek and affect it; and those most unworthy of that honour, who most hunt after it. But I prefer the first sense given of this text.

For certainly what our Saviour here saith was not only occasioned by, but had a great relation to, the petition of James and John with their mother; and the bearing rule and exercising authority mentioned there relates to the kingdom mentioned in that petition; which I think cannot be understood of the church, which was a kingdom of Christ, which they as yet little understood: but they either meant the kingdom of glory, entertaining carnal conceptions of that, that there would be some superiority and inferiority there amongst the saints, which our Saviour here correcteth their mistake in; or else they fancied a secular kingdom, to be exercised by Christ on earth, after his resurrection from the dead. Our Saviour correcteth this mistake also, intimating that his kingdom should be of another nature, and the way to be highest in it was to be humble and low, and mean in opinions of ourselves.

Gill: Mat 20:26 - -- But it shall not be so among you,.... This is not to be extended to Christian nations, as if there were to be no order of magistracy subsisting in the...

But it shall not be so among you,.... This is not to be extended to Christian nations, as if there were to be no order of magistracy subsisting in them; but that all must be on a level, and no distinction of princes and subjects, of governors and governed; nor to Christian churches, as if there was no ecclesiastical authority to be used, or any church government and power to be exercised; none to rule, whom others are to obey and submit themselves to; but is to be restrained to the apostles as such, among whom there was an entire equality; being all apostles of Christ, being equally qualified and sent, and put into the selfsame office by him: the same holds good of all pastors of churches, who have no superintendency and pre-eminence over one another, or can, or ought to exercise any lordly power and authority, one, or more, over the rest; being equally invested with the same office power, one as another: for otherwise Christ's kingdom would appear like the nations of the world, and to be of a worldly nature; whereas it is spiritual, and does not lie in worldly pomp and grandeur, and in external superiority and pre-eminence of one another; but in the spiritual administration of the word and ordinances; which every pastor of a church has an equal right to exercise, and obedience to them lies in a submission to these things:

but whosoever will be great among you, let him be, or, as in Mark,

shall be your minister: whoever would be reckoned a great man in the kingdom of Christ, or under the Gospel dispensation, must be a minister to others if he is desirous of being truly great in the esteem of God, and of men, he must do great service for Christ, and to the souls of men; and seek to bring great glory to God, by faithfully ministering the word and ordinances, and by denying himself worldly honour and glory, and by serving others, through much reproach, difficulty, and opposition.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Mat 20:1-34 - --1 Christ, by the similitude of the labourers in the vineyard, shows that God is debtor unto no man;17 foretells his passion;20 by answering the mother...

MHCC: Mat 20:20-28 - --The sons of Zebedee abused what Christ said to comfort the disciples. Some cannot have comforts but they turn them to a wrong purpose. Pride is a sin ...

Matthew Henry: Mat 20:20-28 - -- Here, is first, the request of the two disciples to Christ, and the rectifying of the mistake upon which that was grounded, Mat 20:20-23. The sons o...

Barclay: Mat 20:20-28 - --Here we see the worldly ambition of the disciples in action. There is one very revealing little difference between Matthew's and Mark's account of th...

Barclay: Mat 20:20-28 - --Second, this passage sheds a light upon the Christian life. Jesus said that those who would share his triumph must drink his cup. What was that cup...

Barclay: Mat 20:20-28 - --The request of James and John not unnaturally annoyed the other disciples. They did not see why the two brothers should steal a march on them, even ...

Barclay: Mat 20:20-28 - --What Jesus calls upon his followers to do he himself did. He came not to be served, but to serve. He came to occupy not a throne, but a cross. It...

Constable: Mat 19:3--26:1 - --VI. The official presentation and rejection of the King 19:3--25:46 This section of the Gospel continues Jesus' ...

Constable: Mat 19:3--21:1 - --A. Jesus' instruction of His disciples around Judea 19:3-20:34 The primary emphasis in this section of M...

Constable: Mat 20:20-28 - --5. Instruction about serving 20:20-28 (cf. Mark 10:35-45) This pericope shows that the disciples did not understand what Jesus had said (cf. Luke 18:3...

College: Mat 20:1-34 - --MATTHEW 20 N. THE GENEROUS LANDOWNER (20:1-16) Jesus now illustrates by means of a parable the proper perspective the disciples should have concerni...

McGarvey: Mat 20:17-28 - -- CI. FORETELLING HIS PASSION. REBUKING AMBITION. (Peræa, or Judæa, near the Jordan.) aMATT. XX. 17-28; bMARK X. 32-45; cLUKE XVIII. 31-34.  &n...

Lapide: Mat 20:1-34 - --CHAPTER 20 The kingdom of heaven is like. That is, God acts in the kingdom of Heaven like a master hiring labourers into his vineyard; for strictly ...

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Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Matthew (Book Introduction) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW By Way of Introduction The passing years do not make it any plainer who actually wrote our Greek Matthew. Papias r...

JFB: Matthew (Book Introduction) THE author of this Gospel was a publican or tax gatherer, residing at Capernaum, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. As to his identity with t...

JFB: Matthew (Outline) GENEALOGY OF CHRIST. ( = Luke 3:23-38). (Mat. 1:1-17) BIRTH OF CHRIST. (Mat 1:18-25) VISIT OF THE MAGI TO JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM. (Mat 2:1-12) THE F...

TSK: Matthew (Book Introduction) Matthew, being one of the twelve apostles, and early called to the apostleship, and from the time of his call a constant attendant on our Saviour, was...

TSK: Matthew 20 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Mat 20:1, Christ, by the similitude of the labourers in the vineyard, shows that God is debtor unto no man; Mat 20:17, foretells his pass...

Poole: Matthew 20 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 20

MHCC: Matthew (Book Introduction) Matthew, surnamed Levi, before his conversion was a publican, or tax-gatherer under the Romans at Capernaum. He is generally allowed to have written h...

MHCC: Matthew 20 (Chapter Introduction) (v. 1-16) The parable of the labourers in the vineyard. (Mat 20:17-19) Jesus again foretells his sufferings. (Mat 20:20-28) The ambition of James an...

Matthew Henry: Matthew (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Gospel According to St. Matthew We have now before us, I. The New Testament of our Lord and Savior...

Matthew Henry: Matthew 20 (Chapter Introduction) We have four things in this chapter. I. The parable of the labourers in the vineyard (v. 1-16). II. A prediction of Christ's approaching sufferin...

Barclay: Matthew (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW The Synoptic Gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke are usually known as the Synoptic Gospels. Synopt...

Barclay: Matthew 20 (Chapter Introduction) The Master Seeks His Workers (Mat_20:1-16) Work And Wages In The Kingdom Of God (Mat_20:1-16 Continued) Towards The Cross (Mat_20:17-19) The Fals...

Constable: Matthew (Book Introduction) Introduction The Synoptic Problem The synoptic problem is intrinsic to all study of th...

Constable: Matthew (Outline) Outline I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11 A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17 ...

Constable: Matthew Matthew Bibliography Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Cl...

Haydock: Matthew (Book Introduction) THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW INTRODUCTION. THIS and other titles, with the names of those that wrote the Gospels,...

Gill: Matthew (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO MATTHEW The subject of this book, and indeed of all the writings of the New Testament, is the Gospel. The Greek word ευαγγελ...

College: Matthew (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION It may surprise the modern reader to realize that for the first two centuries of the Christian era, Matthew's...

College: Matthew (Outline) OUTLINE I. ESTABLISHING THE IDENTITY AND ROLE OF JESUS THE CHRIST - Matt 1:1-4:16 A. Genealogy of Jesus - 1:1-17 B. The Annunciation to Joseph...

Lapide: Matthew (Book Introduction) PREFACE. —————— IN presenting to the reader the Second Volume [Matt X to XXI] of this Translation of the great work of Cornelius à Lapi...

Advanced Commentary (Dictionaries, Hymns, Arts, Sermon Illustration, Question and Answers, etc)


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