SEV Biblia, Chapter 20:26
Mas entre vosotros no será así; sino el que quisiere entre vosotros hacerse grande, será vuestro servidor;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 20:26
Verse 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, is destructive and anti-christian. Your minister] Or, deacon, diakonov. I know no other word which could at once convey the meaning of the original, and make a proper distinction between it and doulov, or servant, in Matthew xx. 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, Acts vi. 1-6; they had the care of the poor, and preached occasionally.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 26. But it shall not be so among you , etc.] 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 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. Prid is a sin that most easily besets us; it is sinful ambition to outd others in pomp and grandeur. To put down the vanity and ambition of their request, Christ leads them to the thoughts of their sufferings It is a bitter cup that is to be drunk of; a cup of trembling, but no the cup of the wicked. It is but a cup, it is but a draught, bitte perhaps, but soon emptied; it is a cup in the hand of a Father, Jo 18:11. Baptism is an ordinance by which we are joined to the Lord i covenant and communion; and so is suffering for Christ, Eze 20:37; Is 48:10. Baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward an spiritual grace; and so is suffering for Christ, for unto us it is given, Php 1:29. But they knew not what Christ's cup was, nor what his baptism. Those are commonly most confident, who are least acquainte with the cross. Nothing makes more mischief among brethren, than desir of greatness. And we never find Christ's disciples quarrelling, but something of this was at the bottom of it. That man who labours mos diligently, and suffers most patiently, seeking to do good to his brethren, and to promote the salvation of souls, most resembles Christ and will be most honoured by him to all eternity. Our Lord speaks of his death in the terms applied to the sacrifices of old. It is sacrifice for the sins of men, and is that true and substantia sacrifice, which those of the law faintly and imperfectly represented It was a ransom for many, enough for all, working upon many; and, is for many, then the poor trembling soul may say, Why not for me?
Greek Textus Receptus
ουχ 3756 PRT-N ουτως 3779 ADV δε 1161 CONJ εσται 2071 5704 V-FXI-3S εν 1722 PREP υμιν 5213 P-2DP αλλ 235 CONJ ος 3739 R-NSM εαν 1437 COND θελη 2309 5725 V-PAS-3S εν 1722 PREP υμιν 5213 P-2DP μεγας 3173 A-NSM γενεσθαι 1096 5635 V-2ADN εστω 2077 5749 V-PXM-3S υμων 5216 P-2GP διακονος 1249 N-NSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
26. Will be great (qelh einai). See on ver. 14. Rev. would be.Minister (diakonov). Servant, ver. 27 (doulov). Doulov, perhaps from dew, to bind, is the bondman, representing the permanent relation of servitude. Diakonov, probably from the same root as diwkw, 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 (John ii. 5) are called diakonoi. In the epistles diakonov is often used specifically for a minister of the Gospel (1 Cor. iii. 5; 2 Corinthians iii. 6; Eph. iii. 7). The word deacon is, moreover, almost a transcription of it (Philip. i. 1; 1 Tim. iii. 8, 12). It is applied to Phoebe (Romans xvi. 1).
Robertson's NT Word Studies
20:26 {Would become great} (hos an qelei megas genesqai). 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. {Your minister} (h-mwn 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 #Php. 1:1. But it more frequently is applied to ministers of the Gospel (#1Co 3:5). The way to be "first" (prwtos), says Jesus, is to be your "servant" (doulos), "bond-servant" (verse #27). this is a complete reversal of popular opinion qen and now.
