responsibility

Leaders need helpers. Even if they have fantastic plans, bosses won’t do much without people who can enact those ideas.

In the Greek New Testament, the word for these individuals who assist is huperetes. It consists of two other words: upo and eresso. The former is a preposition which means “by” or “under,” while the latter is a verb which means “I row.” Combining these, then, the noun huperetes identifies someone who rows under. But that sounds strange! Rows under what?

Have you ever watched the old movie Ben Hur? (Starring Charlton Heston back in 1959, it won 11 Academy Awards. It was a big deal!) Do you remember when the Romans arrested Heston’s character, Judah Ben Hur, and sent to serve on a galley ship? He and other prisoners were stuck down below pulling oars to propel the ship as it engaged in naval battles. These miserable souls are what the word huperetes is referring to.

At least that was the original definition of the term. But by the time of Jesus, the word had taken on a wider meaning. It occurs 20 times in the Greek New Testament, so we’ll cover the basic categories.

Officer

Most often, huperetes refers to officers or guards within the military-legal system. You’ll find this translation in the following 14 verses in the NIV: Matthew 5:25, 26:58; Mark 14:54, 65; John 7:32, 45, 46; 18:3, 12, 18, 22, 19:6; Acts 5:22, 26. 

These weren’t enslaved oarsmen; they were people entrusted with enough responsibility and power to conduct the affairs of their leaders. They operated under authority, but by their office, they possessed some, too.

This leaves us with six verses. Before we look into the other major category, let’s review two minor ones.

Attendant

“Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.” – Luke 4:20

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The one who took care of the scrolls and the facility was the uperetes. While not a priest, the attendant still merited recognition within Jewish society.

Up to this point, none of the 15 verses mentioned Christians. That changes with the next verse.

Helper

“When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.” – Acts 13:5

On their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas started their ministry in cities by preaching in synagogues. They did this because the Jews knew the Scriptures and could understand what the apostles were talking about. This doesn’t mean they believed the gospel, but they did understand it!

John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas and as the huperetes, he was the “helper” of these apostles. Yet he didn’t live up to the job, because he left them and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Later, Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance, but Paul didn’t agree, so they took off on separate journeys. Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus (Acts 15:36-41).

Mark later won Paul’s respect though, because three times the apostle mentions him in positive terms (Colossians 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:11, Philemon 24).

So now we’re down to four verses! They’re all translated the same way in the NIV and they all refer to Christians.

Servant

Here are the four verses:

“Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.” – Luke 1:2

“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’” – John 18:36

“Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.” – Acts 26:16

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” – 1 Corinthians 4:1 (ESV)

According to these verses, Christians fulfill the role of huperetes by functioning as servants. But we’re not left wondering how we’re supposed to comply. 

In John 18:36, Jesus mentions His “servants.” This same word, huperetes, occurs in verses 3, 12, 18, and 22 of chapter 18 to refer to the officers of the Jewish Sanhedrin. The NIV could have stuck with that term in verse 36. As the Sanhedrin has officers, so does Jesus–us! We’re His officers! We carry out His orders like the court officers obeyed the commands of the Sanhedrin.

But if we’re confused about Christ’s orders, the other verses will help us.

Three of the verses set huperetes in apposition to another noun. This means that the two nouns in a verse have a similar meaning. It’s two ways of saying the same thing.

In Luke 1:2, a huperetes of God’s word is an eyewitness. He’s talking here about the original followers of Jesus, the men and women who traveled with Him. They experienced first hand what Jesus said and did.

Acts 26:16 uses the word “witness” because it fits Paul’s circumstances. He wasn’t with the 12 apostles at the time they followed Christ. He could serve as a witness to the gospel, but not as an eyewitness to the historical events of the life of Jesus.

And 1 Corinthians 4:1 identifies servants as “stewards.” This word (oikonomos in Greek) means “house manager” and refers to someone who administers an estate. Like the examples above, responsibility and authority integrate.

Application

How does this bear on us as believers? First, we have to get comfortable harmonizing responsibility and authority in our lives. Jesus has a job for each of us, and He gives us the means to succeed. Second, whatever we’re called to do, we should realize that it will involve the gospel. One way or another, God sets us in situations to display the character of Jesus and share the truth of His message. And third, we serve. It’s simple; we’re servants. We don’t run the kingdom of God and we don’t have to! The Lord has everything under control. All we have to do is our part. And when we do, we find satisfaction and joy in pleasing Jesus and glorifying Him.

And He will honor us as we have honored Him!