Matthew 10: 16-24
A Disciple Like His Teacher; A Servant Like His Master

The expression found here was used by the Lord, on at least, four different occasions: here, John 13, John 15, Luke 6 (It is probably an indication that he frequently repeated himself on the subject).  And the basic idea that is taught here is clearly repeated many more times in the recorded sayings of the Lord.  It must have been important to him and it does us well to think about how we fit into the phrase and its meaning. Can I say, Can you say -in all honesty: "It is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his master."  Can you join me in affirming that truth? 

I. FIRST, THINK ABOUT THE REASONABLENESS OF THE WORDS. 

1. Nobody could quarrel with the thesis.  It is a matter of common sense and proper humility that the disciples take a subordinate place to their teacher and servants are subjugated to their masters. (For such is the meaning of the word doulos which is translated with the more general word "servant" here in the R.S.V.)  It is one of the five Greek words in the New Testament for a servant: diaconos, one who serves; huperetes, a hired servant; pais, a boy servant; misthios, a worker.  Doulos, the word used here, is one who was owned by his master.)  Jesus' disciples would have, no doubt, understood it that way as he spoke these words in Aramaic, which presumably had corresponding synonyms to the Greek words of our text.  Those disciples would not, for a moment, have thought that they should have better food or better living accommodations than their Teacher-Master.)  The idea of a princely-living, globe-trotting cadre of ministers living in five star hotels, which we sometimes see in our day, would have shocked the Christians of the first century. 

2. And certainly this applies in some way to those of us who are culturally and historically very different kinds of disciples and bond slaves than the 12 Apostles, who were the Lord's hearers in all four of these cases.  We are disciples in a somewhat less literal sense than those Galileans who followed him about the cities and towns and roads and fields of First Century Palestine.  We are disciples in a much more metaphorical sense, but we are, nonetheless, surely disciples of him who teaches us every day through the inspired Word of his Apostles and by the leading of the Holy Spirit.  In a very real, if not the same cultural sense, we are "bond slaves" and "disciples" of our dear Master and Teacher. 

There can be no question of this in the mind of anyone who understands the nature of Christ's atonement, in which he specifically bore our personal sins.  There can be no question in the mind of anyone who understands how God the Father imputed the personal righteousness of the Son to us in the hour that we first believed.  Our salvation is all, in its entirety, the work of Jesus Christ, and there can be no question that we are his disciples and his bond slaves.  Nothing could be more reasonable! 

There was a law enacted in Charlemagne's time (who lived on both sides of A.D. 800, when he ruled as Holy Roman Emperor) that was designed to save pathetic, exposed children from certain death (a horrible thing that was sometimes done to unwanted children in ancient times).  The law said that the child who was rescued from death became the servant of the one who saved him.  We might have some problem with that, but we could never object to the rightness of the proposition that "the one who is saved by the redemptive work of the infinitely heroic efforts of the incarnate Son of God becomes the property of the one who saved him from so great a loss -- not, in this case, just physical death, but from eternal death. 

We are not only his disciples -- in the sense that we learn from him, but we are his servants, his bond slaves, because he purchased us.  And "a disciple is not above his teacher nor a bond slave above his master." 

II. AND THINK ABOUT THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY THAT THESE WORDS PLACE UPON US. 

1. "It is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his master."  This rule governs your life in its every aspect, if you are a Christian.  There are aren't any exceptions. 

2. Let us think about some of the areas where "it is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his master."  Just looking at these four uses of the phrase in places in Matthew, Luke and John, gives us some idea of how it does, indeed, apply and how it might reasonably apply in ways that are not mentioned and are quite different from the first century application. 

3. The context of the phrase here in Mt.10 and in the John 15 passage, speaks of persecution for the sake of righteousness.  We are not big on persecution, but never let us forget that there are those who, at this very hour, suffer great persecution for the sake of Jesus and that there is a long heritage -- a virtual "trail of blood" -- throughout all the years since the day of our Master's death on the cross, of those who have given their very life as a result of following him.  We don't rush into this, but we keep it in mind as having been a general rule through the centuries. 

4. Another repetition -- the usage in John 13 -- has to do with living a life of the subjugation our own personal privilege to the work and people of God.  This is something that, especially, American Christians should think about. For they are in the habit of having a mercantile view of Christianity: the Christian establishment is the seller; the individual is the customer. And he looks for the best "bargain" in churches.  It is not uncommon to see Christians just "shopping around" for the best "bargain" in church alternatives.  It is like hunting for a new condo or a new "sport-ute" -- getting the most for what is going to be one's investment. 

The Lord is seen in the Gospels as living a somewhat normal life.  He obviously enjoyed himself with friends.  Probably, he enjoyed human ingenuity, seemingly having been trained as a carpenter.  He obviously enjoyed creation as he saw it around him. And yet there was a purpose for his life.  He lived his life for, and died for, his church.  We do not imitate him in the specifics of his life, but yet there is a lesson there.  He is your teacher and your master; my teacher and my master. "It is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his master." 

5. Certainly, another sense in which this applies, is the willingness to suffer hardship for the sake of Christ without bitterness and without complaint.  For some of us, this seems to be almost harder, even than martyrdom.  This may be due to the unlikely possibility that they would really rather be martyred, or to the fact that no one gives you credit for suffering hardship, but at least you would have your 15 minutes of sympathy if you attained literal or figurative martyrdom for your faith and obedience.  Who knows?  But it is difficult to submit to hardship for Christ's sake without bitterness or complaint. 

Remember our Lord Jesus Christ, "who though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor that we through his poverty might become rich." 

For he took upon himself the form of a bond slave; And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2: 7) 

"It is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his master." 

6. And it applies to entering into the sufferings that are a normal concomitant of life in the world. God has not exempted us from the law of suffering -- pain, physical affliction, accident, the burden of other people dependent upon us, or untimely death. We may think it is too bad, but God has not exempted us. And, presumably, the Lord Jesus Christ experienced all of these things in some form or fashion.  And "it is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his master." 

"It is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the bond slave as his Master." 

And, in the meantime, be assured that your Master is looking on approvingly, giving you grace through the Holy Spirit, permitting exactly the right combination of things for you (since he knows you thoroughly to the core, and what is best for his glory and for your eternal welfare).  Do you believe this? 

III. NOW, HOW MAY WE RELATE THIS TO THE COMMUNION WHICH WE ALWAYS OBSERVE ON THIS FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH? 

At your baptism, you entered into this covenant that included all the implications of v.24.  You may not have known this.  You may have had parents who put the mark of God's kingdom upon you as an infant, without your consent, and claimed you for God in holy baptism.  Or, you may have been pressured into a wrongful second baptism as is often the case in anti-paedo-baptistic churches. But it was part of the commitment, part of the covenant.  You became his servant.  You became his disciple, and 

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his Master.  It is enough that the disciple be as his teacher and the servant as his master. 

For now, it is mostly "the way of the cross," the way of relative or profound suffering, as God shall choose in his infinite wisdom. Oh, it is suffering that is mixed with unspeakable blessing, along the way.  But, still, that is not "the glory!"  The "glory" shall be "revealed hereafter," Peter says.  "First the sufferings, then the glory," he says.  But, for now, you must realize: 

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his Master.  It is enough that the disciple be like his teacher and the servant like his master. 

This morning, on this first Sunday of the month, we regularly celebrate communion as a whole congregation.  As we do so, we not only renew our confession of Christ as our Savior, but also as our Lord who has the right to designate the burdens and difficulties and responsibilities of our earthly pilgrimage which he in his providence has permitted to come our way!  As we partake of this communion -- the symbol of the Saviorhood and the Lordship of the Son of God, let us use it now, and always, in this regard and with this in mind!