Mar 10:43 But so shall it not be among you...
Mar 10:43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
Alternative: But it will not be that way among you, but whoever wants to become important among you shall be your servant.
This verse starts by contrasting the idea of "becoming" against the idea of "seeming" in the previous verse. While a nation's leaders seem better than others, real leader are those who work on becoming better.
There is also a hidden play on words between the idea of servants in this verse and the idea of masters in the previous. Both words that Christ used in the previous verse to describe power began with the idea of "down" (kata) for ruling down using power down on others. In contrast, the word for "minister" (diakonos) begins with dia, which means "in the midst of,{ "by," and "among."
"So" is from houtôs (houtos), which means "in this way," "even so," "in the following way," "even as now," and "with this in view."
"Shall it be" is from eimi (eimi), which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," and "is possible." (The future form is esomai, which is used here.)
"Will" is from thelô (thelo), which means "to be willing," "to wish," "to ordain," "to decree," "to be resolved to a purpose" and "to desire."
"Be" is from gignomai (ginomai), which means "to become," "to come into being," "to be produced," and "to be."
"Great" is from megas (megas), which means "big," "full grown," "great," "high," "loud," "mighty" "important," and "strong."
"Minister" is from diakonos (diakonos), which means "minister," "servant," "messenger," and "attendant." This is the source for our word "deacon."
