John 15:20

15:20 Remember what ¹  I told you, ‘A slave ²  is not greater than his master.’ ³  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ⁴  my word, they will obey ⁵  yours too.

John 18:18

18:18 (Now the slaves ⁶  and the guards ⁷  were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. ⁸  Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.) ⁹ 

John 18:26

18:26 One of the high priest’s slaves, ¹⁰  a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, ¹¹  said, “Did I not see you in the orchard ¹²  with him?” ¹³ 

[15:20]  ¹ tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”

[15:20]  ² tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[15:20]  ³ sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.

[15:20]  ⁴ tn Or “if they kept.”

[15:20]  ⁵ tn Or “they will keep.”

[18:18]  ⁶ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[18:18]  ⁷ tn That is, the “guards of the chief priests” as distinguished from the household slaves of Annas.

[18:18]  ⁸ tn Grk “because it was cold, and they were warming themselves.”

[18:18]  ⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:26]  ¹¹ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[18:26]  ¹² sn This incident is recounted in v. 10.

[18:26]  ¹³ tn Or “garden.”

[18:26]  ¹⁴ tn This question, prefaced with οὐκ (ouk) in Greek, anticipates a positive answer.