<p>10:24&nbsp;A<em> disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord</em>- The Lord is partly speaking to the possible desire in some of the disciples to be martyrs for His cause. Peter's attitude in Gethsemane was clearly of that nature, and some of the disciples came from radicalized, fanatical backgrounds. Martyrdom was a common concept in the first century, and the Lord's warning to flee persecution, to bring about a quiet revolution rather than a political one, was aimed at warning against any desire for a quick, glamorous death for the sake of the Kingdom. In the context, He has warned them to flee persecution (:23). He could be saying that the game plan was that&nbsp;<em>He</em>&nbsp;was to die in 'that city' of Jerusalem, but&nbsp;<em>they</em>&nbsp;were to seek to preserve their lives so that they could make a longer and more effective witness to Him. They were not 'above' Him- He was the one who had to die as the perfect sacrifice, not them. They were to be 'as' Him in terms of personality (:25), and be satisfied with that- it was to be &quot;enough&quot; for them to bear His reproach (:25). The Lord elsewhere taught Peter that the time for martyrdom would indeed come for Peter- but not right then. So there is the possibility that the Lord is implying 'You are not at this stage&nbsp;<em>huper</em>&nbsp;(&quot;above&quot;) Me, for the moment, focus on being &quot;as&quot; Me (:25), as disciples learning to copy their teacher'. This suggestion is strengthened by the fact that Paul later writes that we are indeed to be&nbsp;<em>huper</em>&nbsp;Christ, in the sense of being instead of Him, for His sake, in our witness. Thus we are to preach &quot;<em>huper</em>&nbsp;Christ... in Christ's stead [<em>huper</em>&nbsp;again]&quot; (2 Cor. 5:20), suffering in the work of preaching&nbsp;<em>huper&nbsp;</em>Christ (2 Cor. 12:10; Phil. 1:29; Col. 1:24), giving our lives&nbsp;<em>huper</em>&nbsp;Christ (Acts 15:26), in response to Christ's death&nbsp;<em>huper</em>&nbsp;us (Rom. 5:8 and often). So when the Lord taught in Mt. 10:24 that the disciples were not to give their lives&nbsp;<em>huper</em>&nbsp;Him their Lord and Master, He might have meant 'at this time'. The time would come, but for then, they were to focus on learning of Him.&nbsp;</p>