Commentary on the Gospel of John

It is plain to all how our Lord is a teacher and an interpreter for those who are striving towards godliness, and on the other hand a master of those servants who have the spirit of bondage to fear, who make progress and hasten towards wisdom, and are found worthy to possess it. For “the servant knows not what the master wills,” since he is no longer his master, but has become his friend. The Lord Himself teaches this, for He says to hearers who were still servants: “You call Me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am,” but in another passage, “I call you no longer servants, for the servant knows not what is the will of his master, but I call you friends,” because “you have continued with Me in all My temptations.” They, then, who live according to fear, which God exacts from those who are not good servants, as we read in Malachi, “If I am a Master, where is My fear?” are servants of a master who is called their Saviour.