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Selected Verse: John 12:26 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Joh 12:26 |
King James |
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: If any man serve me, him will my Father honour--Jesus here claims the same absolute subjection to Himself, as the law of men's exaltation to honor, as He yielded to the Father. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Serve me - Will be my disciple, or will be a Christian. Perhaps this was said to inform the Greeks Joh 12:20 of the nature of his religion.
Let him follow me - Let him imitate me; do what I do, bear what I bear, and love what I love. He is discoursing here particularly of his own sufferings and death, and this passage has reference, therefore, to calamity and persecution. "You see me triumph - you see (me enter Jerusalem, and you supposed that my kingdom was to be set up without opposition or calamity; but it is not. I am to die; and if you will serve me, you must follow me even in these scenes of calamity; be willing to endure trial and to bear shame, looking for future reward."
Where I am - See Joh 14:3; Joh 17:24. That is, he shall be in heaven, where the Son of God then was in his divine nature, and where he would be as the glorified Messiah. See the notes at Joh 3:13. The natural and obvious meaning of the expression "I am" implies that he was then in heaven. The design of this verse is to comfort them in the midst of persecution and trial. They were to follow him to any calamity; but, as he was to be glorified as the result of his sufferings, so they also were to look for their reward in the kingdom of heaven, Rev 3:21; "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne." |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Serve (διακονῇ)
See on Mat 20:26; see on Mar 9:35; see on Pe1 1:12.
Me (ἐμοὶ)
Notice the emphatic recurrence of the pronoun in this verse.
My Father
Rev., rightly, the Father. "Very much of the exact force of St. John's record of the Lord's words appears to depend upon the different conceptions of the two forms under which the fatherhood of God is described. God is spoken of as 'the Father' and as 'my Father.' Generally it may be said that the former title expresses the original relation of God to being, and specially to humanity, in virtue of man's creation in the divine image; and the latter more particularly the relation of the Father to the Son incarnate, and so indirectly to man in virtue of the incarnation. The former suggests those thoughts which spring from the consideration of the absolute moral connection of man with God; the latter, those which spring from what is made known to us through revelation of the connection of the incarnate Son with God and with man. 'The Father' corresponds, under this aspect, with the group of ideas gathered up in the Lord's titles, 'the Son' 'the Son of man;' and 'my Father' with those which are gathered up in the title 'the Son of God,' 'the Christ'" (Westcott). |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Let him follow me - By hating his life: and where I am - In heaven. If any man serve me - Thus, him will the Father honour. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
If any man serve me - Christ is a master in a twofold sense:
1. To instruct men.
2. To employ and appoint them their work. He who wishes to serve Christ must become:
1. His disciple or scholar, that he may be taught:
2. His servant, that he may be employed by and obey his master. To such a person a twofold promise is given:
1. He shall be with Christ, in eternal fellowship with him; and
2. He shall be honored by the Lord: he shall have an abundant recompense in glory; but how great, eye hath not seen, ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive.
How similar to this is the saying of Creeshna (an incarnation of the supreme God, according to the Hindoo theology) to his disciple Arjoon! "If one whose ways were ever so evil serve me alone, he soon becometh of a virtuous spirit, is as respectable as the just man, and obtaineth eternal happiness. Consider this world as a finite and joyless place, and serve me. Be of my mind, my servant, my adorer, and bow down before me. Unite thy soul unto me, make me thy asylum, and thou shalt go unto me." And again: "I am extremely dear to the wise man, and he is dear to me-I esteem the wise man even as myself, because his devout spirit dependeth upon me alone as his ultimate resource." Bhagvat Geeta, pp. 71 and 82.
The rabbins have an extravagant saying, viz. "God is more concerned for the honor of the just man than for his own." |
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;