Matthew 20:25

Jesus points out the inversion of earthly ideas in the Kingdom of heaven. This important ‘rule’ of the Master is thrown into the form of Hebrew parallelism. The antithesis is complete. In the Kingdom of heaven the ambition must be to serve not to reign; that Kingdom is in every way the reverse of the kingdoms of the world. In the latter the gradation of rank is (1) the supreme prince (ἄρχων); (2) the nobles (μεγάλοι); (3) the ministers or attendants (διάκονοι); (4) the slaves (δοῦλοι). In the Kingdom of heaven he that will be the noble must be the minister or attendant; he that will be supreme must be the slave. What Jesus teaches is the dignity of service in the Kingdom of heaven.

κατακυριεύουσιν. The word occurs in two other passages of the N.T. besides the parallel passage (Mark 10:42). In one there is probably a reference to our Lord’s words here. St Peter, teaching the same lesson of humility, says (1 Peter 5:3), μήδʼ ὡς κατακυριεύοντες τῶν κλήρων�. In Acts 19:16 it is used in the account of the sons of Sceva, the possessed man, κατακυριεύσας�ʼ αὐτῶν. Here it is used appropriately of supreme authority, just as κατεξουσίαζειν is appropriate to the delegated authority of the μέγας or subordinate governor. κατεξ. here only and in the parallel passage Mark 10:42. It is a novel compound formed perhaps for the sake of the parallelism.