I was reading the above passage today and wondered about the word “servants” in v1 of the NKJV. Is it “bondslave?” Or “deacon”? These are the major terms for servant in the NT. It was neither. It was the Greek “huperetas.” The meaning is literally “under-rower.” Imagine a NT era warship out on the Mediterranean Sea. They were often equipped with various levels of benches for rowers. Overseeing the rowers was the captain of the ship who could give orders so that the ship could be maneuvered as needed in the course of a battle.
We can easily see why Paul used this term here. He is in the midst of speaking of various servants of the Lord: himself, Apollos, Peter are named. Further he has spoken of all believers as being part of the building up of the Body of Christ. One Captain is Lord over all the rowers so that their work is effective.
In 4:1 Paul says all those involved should “consider” themselves to be like these under-rowers. It’s the same term as in Rom. 6:11: “reckon” yourselves dead to sin and alive unto God. What we are involved in, building the Church, Jesus’ Church, which was His task (Mt. 16:18), is a group effort. We all have a gift, a place in the boat, but we must all work together or we will frustrate the purpose and plan of the Captain. That is why we all must “reckon” ourselves to be “huperetas.”
The first use of this term gives us a picture. Jesus used it in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:25): Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. The officer imprisons the criminal. How long and what conditions are permitted in the prison are up to the judge. The officer makes no decisions; he only does as he is instructed.
Luke referred to the “apostles” by this term in Luke 1:2: they were the “eyewitnesses and ministers of the word.” What Luke wrote was totally the word of God; the people God used to convey that word were under-rowers.
When Jesus spoke with Pilate He used the term: My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here (Jn. 18:36). We are not fighting a physical war in the service of Christ but a spiritual war!
In Ac. 13:5 John Mark was the servant of Paul and Barnabas. He didn’t have the right to leave the team, now was he responsible for the work of the team.. No wonder Paul did not want to include him on the second journey.
Ac. 26:16 brings us back to Paul. Jesus told him, I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. Reckon yourself, with the gift of grace given to you, in the ministry where you have been placed by your Lord, to be an under-rower. Follow the Captain lest you work against what He is seeking to do.
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