John 15:20

Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples in John 15, warning them that the world will treat them as it treated him. He links their future experience directly to his own suffering and message.

The words — The command μνημονεύετε (mnēmoneuete), meaning "do remember," opens the verse and directs attention to his prior teaching. The text explicitly states that οὐκ ἐστὶν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ (no servant is greater than his master).

The thread — The principle that a follower shares the fate of their leader appears in Matthew 10:24 and John 13:16. The reality of persecution for godly living is later confirmed in 2 Timothy 3:12.

Why it lands — The text states that persecution and rejection will follow the disciples just as they followed Jesus. It asks a reader to anticipate hostility as a direct consequence of aligning with Christ rather than seeking comfort from the world.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Cross-references

2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
John 13:16 Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Matthew 10:24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.
1 Corinthians 4:12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
2 Corinthians 4:9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
John 8:51 Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”
Acts 4:27 In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.