Simply Jesus 32: “A Servant Is Not Greater Than His Master”

“We were soft.” Those are words that no player in the National Football League wants to hear out of their coach’s mouth. Yet, that’s exactly what Minnesota Vikings head coach, Mike Zimmer, said after the Vikings were “embarrassed” by the Philadelphia Eagles 21-10.

‘Soft’ is a term that we in America generally cringe at. We’re not soft (we tell ourselves), we’re powerful. We’re not soft, we’re rugged and mighty. We’re not soft; we’re fearsome. But are we? Are we soft?

What about modern day Christians in America? Are we soft?

We have built tremendous structures that can almost function as small cities. We have made impressive feature films and mini series on the Bible. We have packed enormous stadiums for our cutting edge concerts and conferences. We have such an appearance of strength.

But if the American church is so strong, why are frequently we getting into intense fights over petty worldly issues (like what type of filing cabinets to purchase)? If we’re so mighty, why are we terrified that the wrong presidential candidate will be elected? If we’re so powerful, why are we so afraid of experiencing the persecutions that the Christians in Iran, Syria and North Korea are going through?

Here in America, prospects for baptism are generally asked if they have confessed Jesus as Lord and if they believe God raised Him on the third day. If they say ‘yes’, they get dunked. In India it is often a very different story.

Hindus are often thought of as peaceful people, but that is not the case in India where their relationships with Christians are concerned. Because of the intense persecutions Christians often face in that country, one pastor asks candidates for baptism in his church, “Are you willing to follow Jesus to your last breath, to your last drop of blood?” If they say ‘yes’, they are allowed to display their allegiance to the King.

We often won’t vote for a candidate if doing so would mean Christians might face one form of persecution or another. How many of us would even get baptized in the first place if we knew that in the next few hours we could very well be slaughtered for making that choice?

When we die, we all want to be called good and faithful servants. But what if in order to be called good and faithful servants, we must first go through what Jesus went through? Is that biblical? Ask Jesus.

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” – John 15:18-20

Surely Jesus didn’t intend for us to take Him seriously on this point, right? Surely He doesn’t mean that He expects His servants to be hated and endure persecution for His name’s sake? Let’s turn to the early Christians.

How did they interpret these simple words of Christ?

How grave is the case of a Christian man if he, a servant, is unwilling to suffer when his Master first suffered. … If we suffer from the world’s hatred, Christ first endured the world’s hatred. If we suffer reproaches in this world, if exile, if tortures, the Maker and Lord of the world experienced harder things than these. And He also warns us, saying … “The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Whatever our Lord and God taught, He also did, that the disciple might not be excused if he learns and does not do. Beloved brethren, do not let any of you be so terrified by the fear of future persecution, or the coming of the threatening Antichrist. … Antichrist is coming, but above him comes Christ also. The enemy goes about raging, but immediately the Lord follows to avenge our sufferings and our wounds. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 619 [CD-ROM]

It seems pretty clear, doesn’t it? If we’re going to be followers of Jesus, we have to follow Him in being slandered. We have to follow Him in being excluded. We have to follow Him in being persecuted for righteousness. We have to follow Him to the cross.

When we think about such things, we will often pray, “Lord Jesus, come quickly.” However, according to the beliefs of not only Cyprian, but the overwhelming majority of early Christian writers, in order for Jesus to come the Antichrist must come first. And when he comes, he is coming with the goal of annihilating Christians.

However, Cyprian tells Christians to be encouraged. Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming to get His bride. Jesus is coming to get His servants who have been brave enough to endure hell on earth for His name.

Things may get bad in our society in the next few days. People are going to be tempted to react to the national election with intense fear regardless of the result. But we Christians still have an obligation to be peacemaking lights in the darkness. We still have a responsibility to be ministers of reconciliation. We still have a duty to faithfully and courageously serve our Master.

So may we look to the One who leads by example. May we look to the One who endured the cross for the joy set before Him. May we look to the Author and Finisher of our faith who stared unspeakable torture and death in the face with the mindset of finishing the work His Father gave Him to do. May we turn from worldly softness and follow hard after Jesus.