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reversed further on in the same chapter of Proverbs, for in verse 25 we read: "As cold
water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country."
Thus the faithful messenger and the good news he brings refresh the heart of God and
man. To be a messenger of the Lord, therefore, is no small privilege.
Heb. 1: 14 has already shown us that messengers can be ministers. Let us look at this
aspect of service. The words that are most frequently translated "minister" and "to
minister" in the N.T. are diakonos and diskoneo. Some derive the word from the Greek,
"Through the dust", indicating a runner in the hot dusty lands of the Bible. Whether or
not this is true we cannot say, but the first thought associated with this form of service is
lowliness. It is the sort of service that waits on others. In the narrowest sense, it is a
"waiting at table". The essence of this aspect of ministry is seen in Christ Himself:--
"Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister . . . . . Even as the Son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many" (Matt. 20: 26, 28).
The Lord's own example in John 13: fills out the words just quoted:--
"If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one
another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto
you" (John 13: 14, 15).
The reader will hardly need reminding that the word "deacon" is the Anglicized form
of the Greek word diakonos.
Another aspect of ministry is found in the word used by Paul of himself in
Rom. 15: 16: "That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ."
Here the word is leitourgos, and its verbal form leitourgeo. Its meaning is "public
service", derived from leitos, "public" (which comes from laos, "people") and ergon, "a
work". At Athens, the leitourgoi were people of substance, who were obliged to assume
certain responsibilities at their own expense. The word is used in the LXX of the
ministry of the priests, and this aspects is evidently in view in the N.T. usage. It is so
used in Luke 1: 23 of the priest Zachariah, and in Heb. 10: 11.
A reference to "public ministry" in the Athenian sense of the term is found in
Rom. 13: 4, 6, where the "powers that be" are in view. The word also occurs in
Rom. 15: 27, in reference to the contribution made by the Gentiles for the poor saints at
Jerusalem. "It is their duty", says the apostle, with an evident allusion to the obligation
resting upon the men of substance at Athens.
One other word must be considered before we conclude our study, and that is
huperetes, literally "an under-rower". It indicates a subordinate position, and may refer
either to the relationship between the Lord's servant and the Lord Himself, or the