Matthew 10:24

Mat 10:24-26. The disciple is not above his master — As if he had said, As for the unkind usage I have warned you to expect, you have no reason to be surprised at it, considering what I have intimated respecting the persecutions awaiting my disciples for righteousness’ sake. See Mat 5:10-12. And, that you may bear all with a becoming fortitude, consider that they have calumniated, traduced, and persecuted me your Master, for which cause you, my disciples, cannot think it hard if they shall calumniate and persecute you: for if they have called the master, Beelzebub, how much more, &c. — This cannot refer to the quantity of reproach and persecution; (for in this the servant cannot be above his Lord;) but only to the certainty of it. Fear them not therefore — Be not afraid of their calumnies, however false or malicious, for ye have only the same usage that your Lord has: and neither shall their wickedness nor your innocence be always concealed: both shall be manifested, at least, in the day of judgment. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, &c. — “The words,” says Whitby, “are capable of two good senses: 1st, Let not the dread of these persecutors deter you from preaching the gospel, as despairing of the success of it; for, though at present it seems to be hidden from the world, and it is likely to be obscured for a while by the calumnies of the Jews and others, I will cause it to shine through all the world, and dissipate all the clouds they cast over it, and will render it mighty to cast down whatever exalts itself against the knowledge of God, &c. Or, 2dly, thus, Fear not the calumnies with which they shall load you, as they did your Master, for I will make the innocence and the excellence of your doctrine as clear as the light; and your integrity in the dispensing of it, and your patience in suffering for it, to redound to your praise, honour, and glory, throughout all ages, and especially at my revelation from heaven, 1Pe 1:7.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

III. THE DUTY, THE STRUGGLE, AND THE ISSUE, Mat_10:24-42.

The duty: The reasonableness, the safety, and the reward of confessing Christ, Mat_10:24-33. The struggle: A division between the nearest connections, a stern necessity of preferring truth to human ties, Mat_10:34-39. The issue: All that receive Christ in his apostles, and who benefit and further their mission in faith, shall join them in the reward, Mat_10:40-42.

This, the closing part of the discourse, stands in close connection with the train of thought which it completes. The previous part has described their mission and duties as apostles; what follows describes rather the case of those to whom they preach, yet including also those who preach. If persecutions must be suffered, to suffer is reasonable, it is safe, it attains a reward.

The Duty, Mat_10:24-33.

24. Disciple is not above his master — So, according to many Jewish proverbs, the pupil of the rabbi was far his inferior. If the master undergo indignity, still deeper insult must the servant accept. And so with what force could our suffering Saviour, who endured the cross, require his disciples to endure by his own previous yet unparalleled example! He is our precedent for suffering, our pattern in suffering, but infinitely above us in the measure of suffering. He is our Lord, not by suffering less, but in the supremacy of his endurance.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat_10:25. Beelzebub.—In the original, Beelzebul, which is probably the true reading in all the places of the New Testament where this name occurs. Two principal explanations have been given of the word as thus written:

1. According to the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the signification is, lord of the dwelling, a term, perhaps, corresponding to that of prince of the power of the air (Eph_2:2). To this meaning there may possibly be an allusion in the choice of the expression, the Master of the house; our Lord thus appropriating to Himself, in another sense, as a term of honour, the name which His enemies had given in blasphemy.

2. In later Hebrew, the word Beelzebub means, lord of dung; and is possibly a contemptuous perversion of the name Baalzebub, lord of flies, the god of the Ekronites (2Ki_1:2). Or, as Lightfoot (on Mat_12:24) explains, an ignominious name, signifying, lord of idolatry. It is possible, however, that the change may be merely euphonic (Mansel).

Mat_10:27. What ye hear in the ear.—Lightfoot refers this to a custom in the “Divinity School” of the synagogue (see Mat_4:23), where the master whispered into the ear of the interpreter, who repeated in a loud voice what he had heard (Carr). Upon the housetops.—The flat roofs of which were often actually used by criers and heralds for their announcements (Plumptre).

Mat_10:28. Fear Him.—Lange in his “Life of Jesus” applies this with Stier, to Satan, but in his Commentary he acknowledges himself to have been in error and applies it to God (see Jas_4:12). Hell.—Greek, Gehenna.

Mat_10:29. Sparrows.—Any small kind of bird. Farthing.—See note on Mat_5:26.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_10:24-33

Further cautions.—All the “cautions” of this passage seem to be alike in being all associated with courage. “Fear not” (Mat_10:26). “Fear not” (Mat_10:28). “Fear not” (Mat_10:31). They seem to be distinguished from each other in being connected partly with passive courage (Mat_10:24-26), and partly with aggressive courage (Mat_10:27-32).

I. Passive courage or fortitude.—Let there be strength to bear what has to be borne in the shape of ill-will; and that especially (here) in that form of it in which it is usually manifested the first. Ill “words” are usually the first fruits of ill “will.” People proceed from words to blows; not the opposite way—as a rule. Christ’s Apostles must begin with bearing the first. They must bear the less as well as the greater. Let those who hate you say of you whatever they will. Two reasons for this kind of courage are virtually given. One is, because, in manifesting it, they are only sharing the lot of their Master. Those who are enemies of Him and of His servants have already said the worst of Him in their power. Professing to come as God’s Son they have declared Him to be in reality the worst of God’s foes. “They have called the Master of the house Beelzebub” (Mat_10:25). Little is the wonder, therefore, if they say the same of His household. Of the two things, indeed, it is not so bad as to say it of Him! The other reason is because this kind of trial can only last for a time. The future, in their case, was bound to much more than compensate for the injustice of the present. The day was coming which would bring to light everything which was at present concealed (Mat_10:26). In that day, therefore, so far from being found really connected with the evil one, the true connection of such maligned ones with the Source of all good would shine forth as the light (Mat_13:43; Rom_8:19, etc.). That being so, leave the glories of eternity to reply to the slanders of time. Why seek to answer that which before long will for ever silence itself?

II. Aggressive courage.—The Apostles of Christ were called upon to do more than endure. They were bound sometimes to speak, and that, too, with boldness (Eph_6:19). This thought seems to account for the transition from Mat_10:26 to Mat_10:27. That day will “declare” all things. Do you, who know of this, do the same in your measure. Turn “darkness” into “light”; turn “secrecy” into “publicity”; fill the whole place with your words (cf. Jer_36:2-6; Act_5:20, etc.). A bold thing indeed to do with such a message as theirs—a message which had already been spoken of as causing them to be “hated of all” (Mat_10:22). The encouragements to make them equal to this were of three principal kinds. There was the consideration, first, of the limitations of time. Whatever the enmity aroused by such boldness, its operations were necessarily confined to this world. If it did its worst it would leave untouched that which God alone could either preserve or destroy, and which they knew in consequence to be most precious of all (Mat_10:28). In doing its worst to them, in short, that kind of enmity may be said to destroy itself as it were; like a bow which, in shooting its arrow, has broken itself. There is the consideration, next, of the limitations of Providence. Even so far as this world is concerned no human enmity can do more than God allows it to do. Moreover, His care in this direction extends to preserving things far beneath them. Creatures so worthless in men’s eyes that they part with them sometimes for nothing (cf. Mat_10:29 with Luk_12:6) are far from despicable in His sight. “Not one, even of such, falls to the ground without Him” (Mat_10:29). Neither is one hair of the head of any one of His servants left unreckoned by Him. Well, therefore, may they leave that which is vital to them in those all-fatherly hands (cf. 1Pe_4:19). There is the consideration, in the last place, of the order of grace. After all, it is only those who do thus practically confess Him before men whom He at the last will so confess before all (Mat_10:32-33). This is not only true of the end; it is true of all the times we pass through. “Those who eye a Providence,” says an old writer, “will always find a Providence to eye” (see also 2Ch_16:9). In other words, the more entirely we leave ourselves in the hands of God’s providence, the more of a providence we shall find it to be.

On the whole, therefore, we see of this “courage” in service, that it is the most prudent method as well. Leave the words of the wicked to say what they will. Leave the hands of the wicked to do as they will. God can restrain them better than you can from going too far. And God will do so, moreover, and that openly, if you openly confess Him before them. This is the secret, and this is the reward, of being bold for His name.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat_10:24-25. Likeness to Christ.—I Likeness to the Teacher in wisdom is the disciple’s perfection.—“The disciple is not above,” etc. “It is enough for the disciple,” etc. If that be a true principle—that the best that can happen to the scholar is to tread in his teacher’s footsteps, to see with his eyes, to absorb his wisdom, to learn his truth, we may apply it in two opposite directions.

1. It teaches us the limitations, and the misery, and the folly of taking men for our masters.

2. It teaches us the large hope, the blessing, the freedom and joy of having Christ for our Master.

II. Likeness to the Master in life is the law of a disciple’s conduct.—There is no discipleship worth naming which does not, at least, attempt that likeness.

III. Likeness to the Master in relation to the world is the fate that the disciple must put up with.—If we are like Jesus Christ in conduct, and if we have received His word as the truth upon which we repose, depend upon it, in our measure and in varying fashions, we shall have to bear the same kind of treatment from the world.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mat_10:27.Revealed and, proclaimed,—I. The matter of preachers’ sermons should be nothing but truth revealed by Christ.

2. Christ doth not reveal anything to His servants, whether ordinarily, as by reading and meditation, or extraordinarily, by His Spirit, but it is able to abide the light, and the trial of all who shall hear of it, and is worthy to be avowed openly.—David Dickson.

Mat_10:28. Is death the end?—There is an essential difference between the soul and the body. Death is the end of the physical organism, but it is not the end of man. It is not to science that a man must go for proof of the life to come. When science has said her last word, the reasons on which we chiefly rely are yet to be heard.

I. One of the familiar indications that the soul and the body are not one, but twain, is seen in the utter disproportion which often exists between the physical and the mental powers, and especially in the fact that in many cases the ravages of disease in the body, and the near approach of death itself, seem to despoil the soul of none of its vigour. The late Samuel Bowles—one of the most brilliant men I ever knew—performed much the largest and best part of his life-work after his health was shattered. Mrs. Browning seems to have gained in intellectual power as her bodily strength waned. This is not the rule; but if in one instance the soul seems undisturbed by the sufferings of the body, that one instance strongly indicates that the soul may continue to live after the body has crumbled into dust.

II. The fragmentary character of human experience, without this lengthening of the term of life, is another indication that life will be lengthened. There is no sign of a term in the growth of the human soul. Is the prospect of indefinite growth in knowledge which opens up so grandly before every thoughtful human being an illusion? Are these powers of knowing and of loving, that in the greatest and the best men seem to be only just beginning to unfold when death comes, never to reach perfection? If there be no future for men, every man’s life is but the introduction to a book that never will be written, the prologue to a drama that never will be acted. Our faith in the wholeness and unity of nature discourages such a supposition.

III. The moral imperative within us seems to ask for its realisation a longer term than human life. The stringency and vigour of its injunctions seem cruel if there be not time for compensations hereafter. Its one word is, “Wait! put the present pleasure by; wait for the enduring good.” If there be no future, this most august voice is the voice of a mocker.

IV. The underlying sentiment of justice within us demands another life, where the miscreants that here go unwhipt shall get their dues; where the troubled and heavy laden shall find comfort and rest.

V. All the strongest reasons for this faith are summed up in the belief that God exists, and that He is good; and that the universe is the expression of His righteous will. For if God is, then, in the largest and fullest sense, what ought to be will be.—Washington Ghulden, D.D.

Mat_10:29-31. The providential care of God.—

I. That in the estimation of the great God some of His creatures are more valuable than others.—Men are more valuable than birds.

II. That over those of His creatures which are the lowest in the scale of value, He exercises a benevolent providence.

III. That the fact that He exercises a benevolent providence over the least valuable is an assurance that He does so over the most valuable.—D. Thomas, D.D.

Mat_10:32-39. The King’s charge to His ambassadors.—

I. The duty and blessedness of confessing Christ.—The “therefore” is significant. It attaches the promise which follows to the immediately preceding thoughts of a watchful, fatherly care, extending like a great invisible hand over the true disciple. Nothing can come between Christ’s servant and his crown. The river of the confessor’s life may plunge underground and be lost amid persecutions, but it will emerge again into the better sunshine on the other side of the mountains. The confession which is to be thus rewarded, like the denial opposed to it, is, of course, not merely a single utterance of the lip. Judas Iscariot confessed Christ and Peter denied Him. But it is the habitual acknowledgment by lip and life, un-withdrawn to the end.

II. The vision of the discord which follows the coming of the King of peace.—The ultimate purpose is peace; but an immediate purpose is conflict, as the only road to peace. Christ is first King of righteousness, and after that also King of peace. But if His kingdom be righteousness, purity, love, then unrighteousness, filthiness, and selfishness will fight against it for their lives. The conflict ranges the dearest in opposite ranks. As when a substance is brought into contact with some chemical compound which has greater affinity for one of its elements than the other element has, the old combination is dissolved, and a new and more stable one is formed, so Christianity analyses and destroys in order to synthesis and construction. Perhaps it is fanciful to observe that the persons “set at variance” are all junior members of families, as if the young would be more likely to flock to the new light. However that may be, the separation is mutual, but the hate is all on one side.

III. Our Lord passes from the warnings of discord and hate to the danger of the opposite, viz., undue love.—He claims absolute supremacy in our hearts. He goes still farther and claims the surrender, not only of affections, but of self and life to Him. Self-denial for Christ’s sake is the badge of all our tribe. Observe that word “take.” The cross must be willingly and by ourselves assumed. No other can lay it on our shoulders. Observe that other word “his.” Each man has his own special form in which self-denial is needful for him. Mat_10:39 contains a lesson, not only for times of persecution; the words go down into the very depths of Christian experience. Death is the gate of life. To die to self is the path to living in Christ.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mat_10:32-33. Confessing Christ.—Notice:—

I. Whom are we to confess?—“Me,” says Christ. Not a denomination or a creed, but a Person. He must be confessed in His offices, sufferings, His ministers, His people. “He that receiveth you receiveth Me.” “Forasmuch as ye have done it,” etc.

II. Before whom are we to confess Christ?—“Before men.” Good and bad, poor and rich, ignorant and learned.

III. How are we to confess Christ?—

1. Verbally.—We should never blush to own that we,

(1) need Him;

(2) trust Him;

(3) love Him.

2. Practically.—Actions speak louder than words. Christ must be confessed in sanctuary, shop, family.

3. Passively.—The Christian in poverty, affliction, bereavement may confess Christ.

IV. What hinders us from confessing Christ?—

1. Fear of being reviled (Mat_10:25).

2. Fear of men’s hatred (Mat_10:21-22).

3. Fear of persecution and loss. The parents of the blind man had this fear (Joh_9:22).

V. What are the advantages of confessing Christ?—

1. An approving conscience (Rom_10:9-10).

2. Open deliverance. The three Hebrew young men. Peter.

3. Open acknowledgment and approval (Rev_3:5).

VI. What will be the consequences of not confessing Christ?—

1. A guilty conscience.

2. A useless life.

3. A miserable death.

4. A dark eternity.—B.D.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. Christ has suffered Persecution before His disciples, and they only suffer along with Him. Second warning and comfort. Mat_10:24-25

24The [A] disciple is not above his [the] master, nor the [a] servant above his lord. 25It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called [surnamed]32 the master of the house Beelzebub [Beelzebul],33 how much more shall they call34 them of his household?

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat_10:24. The disciple is not, etc.—A proverb. See the corresponding passages in rabbinical writings in Schöttgen.

Mat_10:25. This is enough for the disciple, in order that (ἵνα) he may be (treated), etc.; i. e., the subordination of the disciple to his teacher implies that he must share his fate. The same remark applies to the servant in reference to his lord. So Meyer, against the common explanation of the word ἵνα in this passage.

Βεελζεβούλ.—The Syrian Codd., the Itala, the Vulgate, and the Latin Fathers have Beelzebub. This, then, may be regarded as the first explanation of the term—as equivalent to בַּעַל זְבוּב (2Ki_1:2), the fly-god. The second explanation is furnished by Winer as follows: “By a Jewish pun, this name was, by the change of a letter, converted into בַּעַל זְבוּל (בְּעֵל, Chaldee), i. e., dominus stercoris, lord of dung, in a manner analogous to that in which Συχέμ was turned into Συχάρ. It is very natural that the later Jews, in their burning hatred of heathenism, transferred the name of a celebrated idol in their neighborhood on Satan.” Accordingly, Lightfoot, Buxtorf, and most modern critics explain it as the name of Satan, being the prince of all impurity. A third interpretation renders זְבוּל by habitation, and Beelzebul by dominus domicilii. This means,—a. according to Gusset, Michaelis, and Meyer: lord of the kingdom of darkness, where the evil spirits dwell; b. according to Paulus: lord of Tartarus; c. according to Jahn: prince of the power of the air (Eph_2:2); according to Movers: Saturn as holding a castle in the seventh heaven.—With reference to the first interpretation, it is enough to say, that most of the readings are opposed to the form Beelzebub. It is evidently an exegetical explanation of the name Beelzebul from Beelzebub, the god of the Philistines, to whom the chasing away of flies was imputed.—Against the second explanation it is urged, that the word for mud or dirt is זֶבֶל, not זְבוּל. Winer indeed, suggests that uncommon forms are occasionally used in a play upon words. Still, they must have some warrant in the use of the language. Besides, Meyer rightly calls attention to the fact, that the word Βεελζεβούλ bears reference to the expression οἰκοδεσπότης, which Christ had here chosen. Hence, “lord of the habitation.”35 Perhaps, then, this designation of Satan may refer to the habitation of demons in the possessed. The parallel passage in Matthew 12, where the Pharisees say ( Mat_10:24): “This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebul, the prince of the devils,” seems in favor of this view. The Lord Himself afterward characterizes the rule of the demons over the possessed under the biblical expression of “dwellers in a house” ( Mat_10:25; Mat_10:29; and especially Mat_12:45, “They enter in and dwell there”). If this be the correct interpretation of the term, it will also explain how it does not otherwise occur in Jewish writings. The enemies of the Lord charged Him with casting out devils through the prince of the devils, whom they in derision called Beelzebul (Mat_9:34; Mat_12:24). Jesus comments upon this in the following manner: The Pharisees designate as the prince of the devilish possession the Master of the house, who rightfully claims the heart of man as His dwelling (Mat_12:29), and casts out the usurper, who occasionally performed cures of demoniacs, for the purpose of blinding his victims. Hence the expression Beelzebul would refer only to the prince of devils who take possession of men on earth, not to the prince of evil spirits generally. Christ paraphrased the fact, that they stigmatized Him as acting under the inspiration of Beelzebul, by saying that He had been called Beelzebul because His enemies asserted that Satan had virtually devolved on Him the supremacy over demons. The expression is used in a sense similar to that in which the terms Satan and Antichrist occur in 2 Thessalonians 2. This may serve as a sufficient answer to those who ask, When the Jews had called Christ Beelzebul. Comp. Mat_12:24; Joh_8:48. Similarly, it explains the inference drawn by the Lord: How much more them of His household? If the Jews had designated Christ as the prince of devils absolutely, that name could not have been applied to His household. But if they meant that He was the author and patron of demoniac possession, they might apply this even more boldly to His Apostles. Undoubtedly, however, the term bears also some reference to the god of the Philistines. Perhaps the connection may be traced in the following manner: As Beelzebul was supposed to banish, but also to bring, the plague of flies, so Jesus was accused of expelling demons, because He was the lord of their habitation.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

Christ, the Lord of the kingdom of heaven, who sends the Holy Ghost, the rightful Master of the human heart, is characterized by His enemies as prince of the kingdom of darkness, acting under the inspiration of Satan, the chief of the demons, or as Antichrist. Similarly, the disciples of Jesus cannot expect other than that their activity shall be characterized as demoniacal and antichristian.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

“The disciple is not above his Master:” this the watchword of Christ’s faithful witnesses: 1. As to their conduct. They are subordinate in everything to Christ. 2. In their sufferings. Every true disciple must be willing to share the rejection of his Master.—“The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord:” this is sufficient comfort when misunderstood or misrepresented: 1. As a disciple, he feels that if the Master’s work has been calumniated, he need expect no better; 2. as a servant, he feels that if the Lord of the house was stigmatized as a diabolical destroyer, he need not wonder if his service in the Church or to individuals is traduced.—It is a sad, yet an effectual, consolation to the witnesses of Christ when they are calumniated, that their Lord and Master was called Beelzebul.—Christ passes through the blasphemies of His enemies unharmed, as through a mist; let His people follow Him joyously.—Satan condemning himself even when he blasphemes. He must,—1. call that devilish which is divine; 2. he must represent as divine what is devilish.

Starke:—What comfort and honor, that Christ is the Master of the house, and His people its members!—Cramer: Ministers must, in the discharge of their office, have regard to God and the truth of the gospel, not to the threats of men.

Heubner:—The example of Christ is the most blessed encouragement.

Footnotes:

[32] Mat_10:25.—̓Ε π εκάλεσεν, B., C., [Cod. Sinait.] Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Alford, Wordsworth. Meyer regards the εκάλεσεν of the Elzevir text as an arbitrary substitution of the more usual verb.—]

[33] Mat_10:25.—[Βεελζεβούλ is the true reading, adopted by Tischendorf, Lachmann, Meyer, Alford, Wordsworth, Conant, Lange. The E. V. notes it in the margin. Comp. Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]

[34] Mat_10:25.—[This interpolation is unnecessary.—]

[35][For this reason Alford, also, adopts Meyer’s derivation, while Wordsworth adheres to Winer’s interpretation: dominus stercoris.—P. S.]

[36] Mat_10:28.—[Lachmann and Tischendorf read: μὴ φοβεῖσθε ἀπό (imper. præs. pass.) nolite timere, metuere ab iis, on the authority of Codd. B., C., (to which may be added Cod. Sinait., which reads twice. in Mat_10:28; Mat_10:31 : φοβισθε, a mere writing error for φοβεῖσθε). But Cod. B. or Vatieanus, as published by Angelo Mai, reads: μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπό (conjunct. aor. i. pass.), and in the more correct edition of Buttmann, with different accentuation: μὴ φοβήθητε ἀπό (imperat. aor. i. pass.). So also Cod. Alexandrinus, as published by B. H. Cowper, Lond., 1960 (φοβηθῆτε), Origen, and, of modern critics, Alford (φοβήθητε), Fritzsche and Conant (φοβηθῆτε). Meyer explains φοβηθῆτε from Mat_10:24 and reads also in Mat_10:31 φοβεῖτθε with B., D., L., Cod. Sinait, Lachmann, and Tischendorf. The main point for the sense, however, is the difference in the construction, the ἀπό after the first φοβεῖσθε and the acc. τόν after the second, concerning which the critical authorities are all agreed. In English this difference can be best reproduced by translating in the first case: be not afraid of, and in the other: fear him. See Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_10:24. Similarly, what follows from here on to the close consists of anticipations of later utterances. Comp. as far as Mat_10:33; Luk_12:1 ff., and from Mat_10:34 onward; Luk_12:49 ff.

Do not be surprised at such intimations beforehand of the sad troubles that await you; for (as the proverb has it) you need not expect a better fate than that which befalls your Lord and Master. Comp. Joh_5:20; Rabbinical passages in Schoettgen, p. 98.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 10:24-25 point to another source of consolation companionship with the Master in tribulation. A hard lot, but mine as well as yours; you would not expect to be better off than the Master and Lord.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The disciple is not above his master--teacher.

nor the servant above his lord--another maxim which our Lord repeats in various connections (Luk 6:40; Joh 13:16; Joh 15:20).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. The disciple is not above his master] Or in plainer terms, A scholar is not above his teacher. The saying itself requires no comment, its truth and reasonableness are self-evident, but to the spirit and design we should carefully attend. Jesus is the great teacher: we profess to be his scholars. He who keeps the above saying in his heart will never complain of what he suffers. How many irregular thoughts and affections is this maxim capable of restraining! A man is not a scholar of Christ unless he learn his doctrine; and he does not learn it as he ought unless he put it in practice.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) The disciple is not above his master.—The proverb was probably a common one, and is used by our Lord (as in Luk_6:40; Joh_13:16; Joh_15:20) with more than one application. Here the thought is, “Be not amazed or cast down at these prophecies of evil days; in all your sufferings you will but be following in My footsteps; what they have said and done with Me, they will say and do with you also.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. The disciple is not above his master] The disciples of Jesus can expect no other treatment than that which befell their Master Christ. The same proverb occurs in a different connection Luk_6:40, where Christ is speaking of the responsibility of the Apostles as teachers; “as they are, their disciples shall be.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master,.... A disciple should think himself very well off, be entirely satisfied, yea, abundantly thankful, if he meets with no worse treatment than his master; if he has the same honour done him his master has, this is more than could be expected by him; and if he has the same ill usage with his master, he need not wonder at it, but should solace himself with this consideration, that it is no other, nor worse than his master had before him: and the same is equally true in the other case,

and the servant as his Lord: these expressions, as before, were proverbs, or common sayings among the Jews, which our Lord chose to make use of, and adapt to his present purpose; , "vel" , "it is enough for the servant, that he be as his master", is a saying often to be met with in their writings (i); which our Lord applies, and reasons upon, in the following manner:

if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of the household? By "the master of the household"; he means himself, who is master of the family both in heaven and in earth; who is son over his own house, the high priest over the house of God, the lord and governor of all the household of faith; who takes care of, provides for, and protects all that are of God's household: and yet, though in such an high office, and of such great usefulness, he did not escape the severest lashes of the tongues of the wicked Jews; who called him by the most opprobrious names they could think of, and among the rest Beelzebub; see Mat 12:24. This was the god of the Ekronites, Kg2 1:2. The word signifies "a masterfly" or the "lord of a fly": and so the Septuagint there call him , "Baal the fly", the god of the Ekronites. And this idol was so called, either because it was in the form of a fly: or else from the abundance of flies about it, by reason of the sacrifices, which it was not able to drive away; and therefore the Jews contemptuously gave it this name. They observe (k), that in the temple, notwithstanding the multitude of sacrifices offered up there, there never was seen a fly in the slaughter house: or else this deity was so called from its being invoked to drive away flies, and the same with Myiodes, the god of flies, mentioned by Pliny (l), or Myagros, which the same author (m) speaks of; so Jupiter was called a driver away of flies; as was also Hercules (n); and were worshipped by some nations on this account. In most copies, and so in the Arabic version, it is read Beelzebul; that is, as it is commonly rendered, the "lord of dung", or a dunghill god; and it is generally thought the Jews called the god of the Ekronites so, by way of contempt; as it was usual with them to call an idol's temple "zebul", "dung", and worshipping of idols "dunging" (o): but I must own, that I should rather think, that as Beelsamin, the god of the Phoenicians, is the same with Beelzebul, the god of the Ekronites, so it signifies the same thing: now , "Beelsamin", is "the lord of the heavens", and so is Beelzebul; for "Zebul", signifies "heaven"; so the word is used in Hab 3:11 "the sun and the moon stood still", "in their habitation"; by which, as a Jewish (p) writer observes, , "is meant the heavens"; for they are the habitation of the sun and moon: see also Isa 63:15 and so among the seven names of the heavens, reckoned up by them, this is accounted one (q). Now as the Jews looked upon all the deities of the Gentiles as demons, or devils; and since Beelzebub was the chief of them, they thought they could not fix upon a more reproachful name, to give to Christ, than this: and our Lord suggests, that since the great master of the family was called in such an abusive manner, it should be no cause of stumbling and offence, if those of a lower class in the family should be so stigmatized; if Christians are called by ever such hard names, even devils, they should not be disturbed at it; since their lord and master was called the prince of them.

(i) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 58. 2. Bereshit Rabba, fol. 43. 3. Juchasin, fol. 93. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 64. 2. Aben Ezra in Hos. i. 2. (k) Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 5. (l) Nat. Hist. 1. 29. sect. 6. (m) lb. 1. 10. c. 28. (n) Pausanias, 1. 5. p. 313. & 1. 8. p. 497. Clement. Alex. ad Gentes, p. 24. (o) T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 13. 2. (p) R. Sol. Urbinas in Ohel Moed, fol. 100. 1. (q) T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 12. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

Ver. 24. The disciple is not above his master] Sweeten we the tartness of all our sufferings with this sentence, as with so much sugar. Blandina the martyr being grievously racked and tortured, cried out ever and anon, Christiana sum, I am a Christian; and with that consideration was so relieved and refreshed, that all her torments seemed but a pastime to her. ( Sub Antonino Philosopho in Gallia, &c., Bucholcer.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The disciple is not above his master ... - That is, you must expect the same treatment which I have received. They have called me, your Master and Teacher, Beelzebub, the prince of the devils (see Mat 12:24; Luk 11:15; Joh 8:48), and you must expect that they will call all of the family by the same name. “Beelzebub” was a god of the Ekronites. See 2Ki 1:2. The word literally means “the god of flies,” so called because this idol was supposed to protect them from the numerous swarms of flies with which that country abounded. The correct reading here, as in Luk 11:15, Luk 11:18-19; Mar 3:22, is supposed to be, not “Beelzebub,” but “Beelzebul” (Griesbach, Hahn, Robinson, Lexicon) an Aramean form of the word meaning the “god of dung” or “filth.” The name, thus altered by the Jews by changing a single letter, was given to Satan to express supreme contempt and aversion. The Jews seem to have first given to Satan the name of a pagan god, and then, to express their sense of the character of Satan, to have changed that name by altering a single letter so as to express their aversion in the most emphatic manner. By giving the name to Christ, they poured upon him the greatest possible abuse and contempt.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The disciple is not above, &c. If we therefore are disciples of Christ, we ought to embrace with joy, opprobrious and evil language, willingly receive and bear with patience all those things which our noble Lord and Master underwent for us. But if we will not bear these things with patience, how shall we dare to call ourselves his followers, his disciples, his servants, his children, or his domestics. (St. Augustine)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As much as if he had said, "Think not much if you meet with persecutions: I am your Lord and Master, you are my servants and household; you have no reason to look for better measure from the world than I your Lord meet with; it is honour enough for you to be used as well as I am. You know they have persecuted me, they call me Beelzebub, saying that I cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Why should you expect better?" Our Saviour used the same argument, Luk 6:40.

Beelzebub was the idol of Ekron, 2Ki 1:2. The word signifies, the lord of flies; either because they invoked his help against the flies, or (as others say) the name was in derision to that idol given by the Jews to the prince of the devils, because the places herein they sacrificed to it were infested with flies, which they say God’s temple at Jerusalem never was, notwithstanding the multitude of sacrifices which were there killed. Certain it is they understood by it the prince of devils.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 24-33. Fellowship with me in suffering is essential to fellowship with me in glory.

(1) Fellowship in suffering (vers. 21-31).

(2) The result of confessing or of denying Christ (vers. 32, 33).

(1) Fellowship in suffering (vers. 24-31).

(a) You must not expect better treatment than your Master (vers. 21, 25).

(b) But opponents are not to be feared (vers. 26-28), because

(i) they are powerless to really injure (vers. 26-28a);

(ii) there is a greater Object of fear (ver. 28b).

(iii) Who cares minutely for all his creatures, and much more for you (vers. 29-31).

Vers. 24, 25. Matthew only; but comp. Joh_13:16 and Joh_15:18-21; the latter passage is a commentary. In Luk_6:40 there is close verbal similarity, but the thought is completely different. For there our Lord means that a disciple shall not escape the moral loss that his teacher incurs; on the contrary, when fully instructed, he shall be as his teacher is, in the same evil state. But here he is giving encouragement whatever treatment a disciple receives he is, if his Teacher received it also, not to count it a strange thing. (1Pe_4:12)

The (a, Revised Version) disciple. The absence of the article lays more stress on the man"s position as disciple. Is not above. The emphasis of the sentence is upon the denial of such a possibility (ouk estin o mayhthv). His master; teacher (Revised Version margin); didaskalon . Nor the (a, Revised Version) servant (bondservant, Revised Version margin) above his lord.

Vers. 24-42. General rules for all the Lord"s disciples.

I THE CONFLICT.

1. They must be patient, looking unto Jesus. He is our Example, our Master, our Lord. He is in all things above us immeasurably and beyond comparison in his Divine power and majesty, in his transcendent holiness, in his perfect love. "He was despised and rejected of men." His people must expect the like. We are his disciples, his servants. The great aim of our life should be to be like him; to draw nearer and nearer, though always at an infinite distance, to that Pattern of exalted goodness. We must not look for the high places of the world, when the Lord endured the cross. We must not look for praise, when he was so cruelly insulted. We must expect our best deeds to be misrepresented. Men ascribed the Lord"s miracles of love to the agency of Satan. It is enough for the disciple that lie be as his Master. It is good for Christians to be blamed, to be despised, to be slandered. It is a discipline of meekness; it leads them to look into their hearts, to see their own sins and shortcomings; above all things, it makes them like their Master; it brings them, if they take it patiently, into nearer relations with their suffering Lord.

2. The duty of holy boldness. Suffering becomes a blessing if it makes men like their Lord; therefore they must not fear. "Fear not" is the Lord"s commandment, his word of gracious encouragement.

(1) Fear not the misrepresentations of men. In the great day the secrets of men"s hearts will be revealed: the falsehood, the malice, the hypocrisy, the wickedness, of the persecutors; and. the faith, the purity, the gentleness, the charity, of the Christian. Men will be seen then as they really are. The mask will be torn from the hypocrites; unreality of every kind will be exposed. "Therefore," the Lord says, "be real; be true to your God and to yourselves; speak out, and fear not." The Lord had prepared them for their work in private, in a little corner of Palestine. They were to make his teaching public. He was to teach them secretly, in their hearts, by the guidance of his Spirit leading them into all truth; they were to proclaim openly and fearlessly the gospel message for the conversion of the world.

(2) Fear not them which kill the body. An agony of persecution was at hand; the Lord prepares his servants for it. "Fear them not," he says; "they cannot hurt the soul; their power cannot reach beyond the grove." But there is a holy fear, a fear which is the beginning of wisdom, a fear which casts out all other fears the fear of God. The power of the persecutors is but for a moment. His is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. They can kill the body only; fear them not. He can destroy both soul and body in hell; fear him. This is not the fear which hath torment. It is not a slavish fear; it is that deep, loving reverence which gives true dignity to the Christian life; which leads the believer to try always to realize the awful presence of God, to fear to displease him, to walk before him in lowly, reverential obedience. This fear is not cowardice; it is the highest courage. It strengthened the martyrs of the Lord in their cruel trials, in torture and in death. It strengthens true Christians now.

3. The duty of trustfulness. God"s mercy is over all his works. He cares for all his creatures, even the smallest, the most insignificant. Much more does he care for those precious souls for which the Redeemer gave himself to die. The smallest circumstances of our lives are not beneath his notice. The very hairs of our head are all numbered. All the little trials, difficulties, vexations, of our daily lives are known to him. Therefore let us trust in that almighty Protector who notes the fall of every little sparrow. "Fear not," saith the Lord. Fear not persecutions; fear not sickness, pain, death; none of these things can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

II THE END OF THE CONFLICT.

1. The recognition of the conquerors. It cost much to confess Christ before men in the days of fiery trial; even now it is not always easy. It is to own him as our Master and our Lord; not as the many who say to him, "Lord, Lord," but as the few who confess him in their lives. The whole life both the outward life of word and deed, and the inward life of thought and motive must be ordered by the obedience of Christ. Both are alike open to the searching eye of God; both must evince the confession of the heart that Christ alone is Lord. The whole life must draw round him as its Centre; it must own him by ready, cheerful submission to him as its only King. The reward is great; such men he will confess before his Father. In the glory of the great day, before the assembled universe, the almighty Judge, the most holy Saviour, will own them as his true sheep, his chosen, his redeemed. It is a lofty hope; may it be ours!

2. The rejection of the disobedient. Those who deny him, he will deny; not those who, like Peter, having once denied, have repented in true contrition, but those who deny him in their lives, though they may profess that they know him; those who show no obedience, no love, no self-denial those he will deny. Their profession may be loud, their display of religion may be great, but he will deny them before his Father. He knoweth their hearts; they are not his.

3. The conflict will be bitter. The Lord is the Prince of Peace; the angel-anthem that celebrated his incarnation dwelt on the gift of peace. But "glory to God" came first. "Glory to God in the highest," says Slier, "necessarily precedes " peace upon earth." The second cannot be attained but through the first, and the conflict which secures it." Peace on earth was the object of the Lord"s coming; but the sword was to come first. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable." The purity of Christ"s holy teaching, its absolute originality, its utter difference from the established modes of faith and worship, would excite a violent opposition. The zeal of Christians would arouse the zeal of persecutors; there would be sharp divisions even in the family circle. Sometimes it is so now; it is a bitter trial.

4. Christ must be first in our love, whatever the cost. He set nothing above our salvation; we must set nothing above his love. Human love is very precious, but not so precious as the love of Christ; all other loves must be subordinated to that one highest love. In truth, they love their earthly friends the best, who, loving Christ above all, love mother, or wife, or child in Christ and for Christ according to his will. But the whole heart must be given to Christ, who gave himself for us. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart." It is the first of all the commandments, the deepest and the holiest.

5. The cross. For the first time we meet with that great word that word once so hateful, now so sweet and holy. The Lord looks forward in prophetic vision; he sees himself bearing the cross; he sees his faithful followers, each with his cross, moving onwards in long procession to the glory-crown. His words must have seemed very dark and strange. The apostles looked up to him with the utmost reverence; and now he, their King, spoke of the cross, that thing so utterly loathsome. He said that they must take it up; he called it their cross. He implied that he himself would bear it. They could not have understood him then; they knew afterwards. We know his meaning. There is no crown without the cross; no heaven without self-denial for Christ"s sake.

6. The true life. This life is dear to us; the life to come should be dearer far. Our present life is continued in the life beyond the grave. Our personality is one; our life here and hereafter is one life under two very different forms. Here is the Christian paradox: he who finds loses, he who loses finds. He who sets his love upon this earthly life and takes not up his cross loses that higher life. His life continues itself, but it becomes death, utter death, to all that makes life worth living. He who loses finds; he who counts all things else as dross that he may win Christ, finds Christ, and finds in him the true life, the life that dieth not.

III CONCLUSION.

1. The dignity of the apostolic office.

(1) They were the ambassadors of Christ. They represented him; they carried his message. More than that, the Lord was ever with them. Therefore to receive them in Christian love and hospitality was to receive the Lord Christ himself. He cometh with his true servants; he fills their hearts, he inspires their words. Therefore let us receive them in love, that, receiving them, we may receive into our hearts him who sent them. He himself is the Apostle and High Priest of our calling. "He that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

(2) So are prophets and righteous men. All Christ"s true servants bear witness for Christ, some by their words, some by the silent eloquence of a holy life; all bring a blessing with them to such as are worthy. They who receive a prophet because he is a prophet, and so speaks for God; they who receive a righteous man because he is righteous, a servant of the Lord, shall receive the reward of the prophet, or righteous man. In honouring them, they are honouring God; in helping their work, they are helping the work of God. How these words of Christ ought to stimulate us to assist all faithful missionaries, all earnest, self-denying men of God! When we help them with our alms and prayers, we are sharing their work, making it in a measure our own work; and (the Lord himself tells us) we shall share their reward.

2. The dignity of all Christians. All belong to Christ not only apostles and prophets and righteous men, but also the little children whom the Lord Jesus loved so well, whom he took up in his arms and blessed, whom he bade us bring to him. They are his; therefore the gift of love given to them because they belong to Christ shall not lose its reward. The smallest deed of holy love is precious in the sight of him who is love. Let us care for the little children; let us tend the sick and forsaken; let us teach the ignorant. Orphanages, children"s hospitals, Sunday schools, are good- and Christian institutions. They who help the little ones because they belong to Christ shall not, the Lord hath said it, lose their reward.

LESSONS.

1. We must be content to be despised as the Master was despised; the disciple is not above his Master.

2. Fear God; fear nothing else; be bold in bearing witness for the truth.

3. God cares for us all in our little trials; we should bring them all before him in trustful prayer.

4. What must be the unutterable blessedness of those whom Christ will confess in the last day? Confess Christ now.

5. The cross is the very emblem of our religion; we must take it up, looking unto Jesus.

Vers. 24-33. Fearless witnessing.

The Christian is Christ"s witness. He has to testify for Christ of his Person, offices, and work. He has to testify for the salvation of the believer; to the condemnation of the rejecter. To the rejecter the testimony is unpalatable and rouses resentment. This is often fierce and deadly. To face this resentment requires courage. In the text the witness has the encouragement, viz.

I THAT THE POWER OF THE WICKED IS LIMITED.

1. They have the disposition to destroy.

(1) This was evident When they called the Master of the house Beelzebub. This was in the highest possible degree to call good evil.

(2) It was further evident when they crucified the Just One. In so far as they were able they murdered God.

(3) "The disciple is not above his Master." He has no reason to expect a different treatment from the wicked.

2. But their power reaches only to the body.

(1) So far as killing the body, they prevailed against Christ. So far they prevailed against his martyrs.

(2) "But they are not able to kill the soul." Unless the soul consents to its own injury, it cannot be harmed. The soul is killed only by being separated from God. No power can pluck us out of the hand of God.

(3) Note: The soul does not sleep when the body dies.

3. Therefore God only is to be feared.

(1) He can kill the body as certainly as the wicked can. He can, moreover, kill the soul as certainly as the wicked cannot. He can destroy both in Gehenna; and so destroy as to perpetuate punishment. (see Psa_90:11 2Th_1:9) "Men think that death is an end of their troubles, whereas it is only the beginning of them. It is the lot of the wicked that they live in death, and suffer as it were a continual death" (Philo).

(2) God is to be feared still by those who love him. It is not hell-fire we are to fear, but God. The love of God redeems from slavishness his fear.

(3) Those who fear God truly need not fear man. The fear of sinning arms us against the dread of sinners. Even the heathen could nobly set a tyrant at defiance, saying, "You may abuse the case of Anaxarchus; you cannot injure Anaxarchus himself." Seneca undertakes to make it out that you cannot hurt a wise and good man, because death itself is no real evil to him.

(4) It is enough that the disciple be as his Master. The honour of suffering with Christ is glorious. (Mat_5:10 Rom_8:17 Rom_13:5 2Co_12:10 Php_1:29 Jam_1:12 1Pe_2:19, 20 3:14 4:14) Wakefield renders Juvenal thus:"If ever call"d To give thy witness in a doubtful case, Though Phalaris himself should bid thee lie, On pain of torture in his flaming bull, Disdain to barter innocence for life; To which life owes its lustre and its worth.

II THAT THE FAITHFUL ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF A SPECIAL PROVIDENCE.

1. The providence of God is everywhere.

(1) It is behind all mechanical forces. Gravitation brings the sparrow to the ground; but it does not fall without our Father. The statement is not that the sparrow does not fall without his notice, but that it does not fall without him. Without the constant active presence of God in nature there would be no gravitating force.

(2) It is behind all living forces. If the sparrow descends to the ground for food, it is because God is there to provide the food, and also to give the creature the power of volition. (cf. Mat_6:26 Luk_12:6)

2. It is specially concerned for the servants of Christ.

(1) He who feeds his sparrows will not starve his saints. Man, in the estimation of his fellow, is of more value than many sparrows. But how enormous is the contrast between the farthing that will purchase two sparrows and the price paid by God for the redemption of one human soul!

(2) But amongst men the believer engages a peculiar loving care of God, and most of all when he is faithfully witnessing for Christ. "The very hairs of your heads are numbered" (cf. ver. 30; Luk_21:18).

(3) How different is this doctrine of Christ from that of Pope, who says"He sees with equal eyes, as God of all, A hero perish or a sparrow fall"!

Or of Hume, who says, "In the sight of God every event is alike important; and the life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster"!

3. What, then, has the servant of Christ to fear? "Nothing can harm us even the killing of the body we be followers of that which is good.

III THAT THE FAITHFUL SHALL BE EVERLASTINGLY REWARDED.

1. There is a coming day of revelation.

(1) "There is nothing covered that shall not" then "be revealed." In the day of judgment the malignity of the hypocrite who called the Master of the house Beelzebub will come out to the day. (Ecc_12:14)

(2) So will the fidelity of Christ"s slandered witnesses. Already, even in this world, those who once were counted the offscouring of all things are justified and revered. What an anticipation this of the honour of the saint before an assembled universe!

2. The day of revelation will be a day of retribution.

(1) The confessor will be confessed. The confession will be the prelude and passport to the bliss of heaven.

(2) The denier will be denied. The truth itself will condemn those who dishonour it. The denial of the wicked will be the prelude to his destruction in both soul and body in Gehenna.

3. Therefore let the witness for Christ be fearless.

(1) What Christ tells him in the darkness of parable, that let him speak in the light of clear testimony. What he hears in the ear of privacy he is to proclaim as from the house-top, publicly and openly. The trumpet should have a certain sound.

(2) What the apostles delivered they received. They received it in privacy, not for themselves, but as stewards" to dispense "the mysteries of God". (Eph_3:1-12 Heb_2:3) "We preach not ourselves. J.A.M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luke vi, 30; John xv, 20.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Our Saviour here teaches all Christians but especially ministers, how unreasonable and absurd it is for them to expect kinder usage from an unkind world than he himself met with. Are we greater, holier, or wiser then he? Why then should we expect better usage than he? Was he hated, persecuted, reviled, murdered, for the holiness of his doctrine and the usefulness of his life? Why then should any of us think strange of the fiery trial, as if some strange thing had befallen them? 1Pe 4:12

Is it not enough that the disciple be as his master and the servant as his Lord, but must he hope to be above him?

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24, 25. The disciple is not above his master. The disciples must expect to be treated like the master.

Call the master … Beelzebub. The prince of evil, Satan, is meant.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus continues to instruct his disciples about the persecution they will endure when they go out to preach.

A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a servant above his master

Jesus is using a proverb to teach his disciples a general truth. Jesus is emphasizing that the disciples should not expect people to treat them any better than the people treat Jesus. (See: Proverbs)

A disciple is not greater than his teacher

"A disciple is always less important than his teacher" or "A teacher is always more important than his disciple"

nor a servant above his master

"and a servant is always less important than his master" or "and a master is always more important than his servant"

It is enough for the disciple that he should be like his teacher

"The disciple should be satisfied to become like his teacher"

be like his teacher

If necessary, you can make explicit how the disciple becomes like the teacher. AT: "know as much as his teacher knows" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

the servant like his master

If necessary, you can make explicit how the servant becomes like the master. AT: "the servant should be satisfied to become only as important as his master" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

If they have called the master ... how much worse ... they call ... the members of his household

Again Jesus is emphasizing that since people have mistreated him, his disciples should expect people to treat them the same or worse.

how much worse would be the names they call the members of his household

"the names that they call the members of his household will certainly be much worse" or "they will certainly call the members of his household much worse names"

If they have called

"Since people have called"

the master of the house

Jesus is using this as a metaphor for himself. (See: Metaphor)

Beelzebul

This name can either be 1) transcribed directly as "Beelzebul" or 2) translated with its original, intended meaning of "Satan."

his household

This is a metaphor for Jesus' disciples. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

disciple

teacher

servant

lord

house

Beelzebul

household

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

24. οὐκ ἔστιν μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον. The disciples of Jesus can expect no other treatment than that which befell their Master Christ. The same proverb occurs in a different connection Luk 6:40, where Christ is speaking of the responsibility of the Apostles as teachers; ‘as they are, their disciples shall be.’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24-42.] Third part of the discourse. See note on ver. 5. It treats of (I.) the conflicts (vv. 24-26), duties (vv. 26-28), and encouragements (vv. 28-32) of all Christ’s disciples. (II.) The certain issue of this fight in victory; the confession by Christ of those who confess Him, set in strong light by the contrast of those who deny Him (vv. 32, 33); the necessity of conflict to victory, by the nature of Christ’s mission (vv. 34-37), the kind of self-devotion which he requires (vv. 37-39): concluding with the solemn assurance that no reception of His messengers for His sake, nor even the smallest labour of love for Him, shall pass without its final reward. Thus we are carried on to the end of time and of the course of the Church.

24.] This proverb is used in different senses in Luk 6:40 and Joh 13:16. The view here is, that disciples must not expect a better lot than their Master, but be well satisfied if they have no worse. The threefold relation of our Lord and His followers here brought out may thus be exemplified from Scripture: μαθητής and διδάσκαλος, Mat 5:1; Mat 23:8: Luk 6:20; δοῦλος and κύριος, Joh 13:13: Luk 12:35-48: Rom 1:1: 2Pe 1:1: Jud 1:1; οἰκοδεσπότης and οἰκιακοί, Mat 26:26-29 ║: Luk 24:30: Mat 24:45 ff. ║.

καὶ ὁ δοῦλος ὡς … is a broken construction; it would regularly be καὶ τῷ δούλῳ, ἵνα κ.τ.λ.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. The editor here collects together other sayings bearing upon persecution.

(L) A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above his master.] Lk. in his Sermon (6:40) has clause a, adding: “but every one who is perfected shall be as his teacher.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.