²⁰ “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.”

Quoting Himself, “A slave is not greater than his master,” Jesus reminds His disciples they should expect the same treatment He received. During an extended discourse recorded in Matthew 10:16-29, He had already warned them about persecution. At that, John the Baptist was incarcerated and executed. Being a disciple of Christ has significant consequences.

Earlier in the Upper Room, He again used the phrase in relationship to serving. If Jesus, their master, washed their feet, then such humility was not below any of disciples. Now, capitalizing on this thought, neither should suffering be outside of their expectations. This bears repeating. The Old Testament story of Samuel is instructive. When the people rejected the judgeship system of God, the Lord told Samuel, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them” (1 Sam 8:7). So the same is true for those who represent God to the world. A big part of being a follower of Christ is that we represent Him to the world. What the world does to us, they are doing to Christ—and ultimately to God.

If we are persecuted as His disciples, that is because we represent Him. And if people accept our testimony, they are accepting Christ, the One of whom we bear witness. We simply must accept this as being part of the package of discipleship. Too often Christians struggle with being ineffective, or we get puffed up with “success” of seeing people come to Christ. Our role is simply to bear witness of Him, point people to Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. Some are gifted evangelists, others not so much so. God at times works through the witness of one person, while not so much through another. But we must accept that the majority of people will reject the message. Jesus Himself said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it” (Matt 7:13).

We Christians should by all means share our testimony, and do everything we can to reach the lost world around us. But we should not measure “success” by the number who come to believe in His word. We will be persecuted, that is not necessarily a sign of failure or that we are doing something wrong. It comes with the territory of being a follower of Christ. He certainly wasn’t a failure and they crucified Him.

Lord, help me not waver in the face of persecution. I believe that when they reject me, they are rejecting You. I so want them to know You.