The Outlaw Expositor

I once had a seminary professors tell me, if you were going to only memorize one verse in the gospel of Mark, it should be Mark 10:45. Now obviously, he is not suggesting that you forget the rest of the book, there are plenty of wonderful verses in Mark, but this verse in particular is significant. I’d like to explore this verse with you a little more.

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, ESV)

Commentary:

One of the reoccurring themes in the gospel of Mark is the disciples not fully understanding Jesus’ mission. For them and many in this time, the Messiah was going to establish the kingdom of God on earth in a very physical way. They envisioned a mighty warrior king who would overthrow Israel’s oppressors (namely the Romans) and rule on earth. Although Christ, will in fact, one day set up his earthly kingdom and right all the wrong sin has caused, this was not Jesus’ purpose at this time.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus predicts his death 3 separate times, (Mark 8:31, Mark 9:31, and Mark 10:33) these are referred to as “passion predictions” by scholars. In chapter 10, we find Jesus and his disciples on the way to Jerusalem, where Jesus would have his Triumphal Entry and eventually be handed over to be executed. On their way, Jesus provides his last passion prediction, “saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.’” (Mark 10:33-34, ESV)

Showing their lack of understanding, immediately after this, we see James and John approach Jesus with a request. “And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’” (Mark 10:37, ESV) It’s clear the disciples were still not clear about what was going to happen. The text even tells us in verse 41, that the other 10 disciples were indignant at James and John for asking such a request, clearly they wished they had thought to ask this of their Master too. Jesus seeking to correct them once again, calls the 12 together and tells them this:

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45, ESV)

Jesus teaches the 12 and us today, that our ideas of greatness are built on a mistaken foundation. To be truly great means that we must be servants. The Lord exalts those that are lowly and devoted to the good of others. And he backs up this claim with his own life as an example, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…” The Apostle Paul reminds us of this when he instructed the Philippians, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Phil 2:3, ESV)

And to give his life as a ransom for many – When speaking of His own death, this is how Jesus explains its purpose. As a ransom for many. The great Anglican bishop, J.C. Ryle on this verse commented, “This is one of those expressions which ought to be carefully treasured up in the minds of all true Christians. It is one of the texts which prove incontrovertibly [meaning: In a way that cannot be denied; impossible to doubt] the atoning character of Christ’s death. That death was no common death, like the death of a martyr, or of other holy men. It was the public payment by an Almighty Representative of the debts of sinful man to a holy God.” (Ryle, J.C. Expository Thoughts on Mark)

This ransom, calls back to the messianic prophecy of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11, ESV, my emphasis)

Ryle continued and wrote this, “By that death Jesus made a full and complete satisfaction for man’s countless transgressions. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. When He died, He died for us. When He suffered, He suffered in our stead. When He hung on the cross, He hung there as our Substitute. When His blood flowed, it was the price of our souls.” (Ryle, J.C. Expository Thoughts on Mark)

An additional comment on the word, “ransom”. The original Greek word in Mark 10:45 is λύτρον, pronounced: ly-tron. It is right to translate it to the English word, ransom. However, typically when modern readers think of someone being ransomed they think of a hostage situation. That’s not the proper understanding of this word’s usage in this context. Let me elaborate further, in a hostage situation where a ransom is paid, who is the innocent party? The innocent party is the hostage. The ransom is typically paid by the family of the hostage to the criminal hostage-taker or terrorist. This is absolutely not what is being described here in Mark’s gospel. The more proper understanding of this would be, a ransom is the means by which someone is released or liberated. In this time frame the word would have been used to describe the price paid to officially liberate a slave from bondage. This is what is happening when Jesus says he gives his life as a ransom. In this case the innocent is paying the debt of the convicted prisoner. Christ’s death is our substitutionary atonement.

What comfort we have in knowing this truth! I can understand now why my professor liked this verse so much. I’ll leave you with this, a line from one of my favorite hymns, It is Well:

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!