Bible Strands
Matthew 20:26
It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the Twelve after they have argued about who is the greatest, during the journey to Jerusalem. He has just described the Gentile model of lordship (v. 25) and is now setting the counter-model.
The words — οὕτως (houtōs, "thus") points back to the Gentile pattern of domination, and ἀλλ᾽ (all', "but") pivots the entire framework to its opposite.
The thread — Mark 10:43 is the direct parallel; Mark 9:35 states the same principle in the "first/last" formulation; Mark 10:45 identifies the Son of Man as the one who embodies it.
Why it lands — It makes service the entry condition for greatness rather than a consolation for those who failed to rise. A reader who wants authority is told the only path to it is downward.
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
But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Cross-references
- Mark 10:43 But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
- Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
- Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- 1 Peter 5:3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
- Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Luke 14:7 When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable:
- 1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
- Matthew 23:8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.
- Matthew 25:44 And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
- 3 John 1:9 I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction.