Matthew 20:25

But Jesus called them unto him and said, Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant.

This statement of Christ does not merely repeat a well-known fact for emphasis. This is not a case of poetry in which the meaning of the first clause is exactly duplicated in the second. The full meaning appears when the pyramidal quality of Gentile government is observed.

Their Great Ones

The Rulers of the Gentiles

The Gentiles

There are three ranks (tiers) of authority. Thus, the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over the Gentiles, and their great ones exercise authority upon the rulers of the Gentiles. Christ categorically denied any such pyramidal system of government any place whatsoever in his kingdom. "All of you are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). True greatness in Christ's kingdom lies not in office but in service. Jesus very wisely identified such pyramided governments as "Gentile," thus indicating their rejection in his kingdom of love and service, rather than of strutting power. That such Gentile forms of power exist in so-called Christian religions today does not nor cannot make it right.