Mark 10:45

καὶ γάρ. “And what is more”; giving an additional reason for what has just been stated. Here the contrast between the two systems is at a maximum. In inaugurating the Messianic Kingdom the Messiah Himself renders service rather than receives it, and gives His labour and His life for His subjects. He often received service, both from Angels (Mark 1:13) and from men and women (Mark 1:31; Mark 14:13; Mark 15:41), but that was not the purpose of the Incarnation. And here He does not say that He was sent (Mark 9:37), but that He came—of His own free will—to minister, and to give—of His own free will—His life. This is the most definite declaration of the object of His coming into the world that has thus far been recorded; and it is given, not as instruction in doctrine, but incidentally, to enforce a practical lesson. This does not look like invention.

οὐκ … ἀλλά. See on Mark 9:37.

διακονῆσαι. “He emptied Himself by taking the characteristic attributes of a servant.” Cf. John 13:13-15, and see Lightfoot on Philippians 2:7.

δοῦναι τὴν ψυχήν. This is the climax; “Greater love hath no man than this” (John 15:13), and this greatest service the Messiah came to render.

λύτρον. In some way that is beyond our comprehension, the Death and Resurrection of Christ made it easier for mankind to win forgiveness and entrance into the Kingdom in which eternal life is enjoyed. The supreme change of conditions is spoken of in Scripture under a variety of metaphors, from which we must be very cautious in drawing inferences. They sometimes overlap, and therefore the same texts would illustrate more than one of them. Christ’s work for us in this respect is spoken of as “ransoming” (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:6; Titus 2:14), “redeeming” (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:15), “buying with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Peter 2:1; Revelation 5:9), “shedding blood for a new covenant” (Mark 14:24; Hebrews 13:20), “loosing from sins with blood” (Revelation 1:5), “salvation” or “rescue” (Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:9; etc., etc.), “propitiation” (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10), “reconciliation” or “atonement” (Romans 5:11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:20), “justification” (Romans 5:9). No metaphor can give us more than a fragment of the truth, and this is often mixed with what (for the purpose in hand) is not true. Interpretation of figurative language is therefore precarious, and drawing inferences from our interpretations may be perilous. It is perhaps wisest to accept the fact of these blessed results of Christ’s Death and Resurrection, without trying to explain the manner of their working. In the present case we do not know whether Christ used a word which was equivalent to λύτρον. The metaphor may be the translator’s, for λύτρον occurs in N.T. nowhere excepting this utterance. Nevertheless cognate words are common, esp. in the Pauline Epp. and in writings akin to Pauline thought; e.g. ἀντίλυτρον, λυτρόομαι, λύτρωσις, ἀπολύτρωσις, of which the last is far the most common. But this metaphor of ransom or redemption is not found in the Johannine writings. See Westcott, Hebrews, pp. 295 f., Epp. of St John, pp. 83 f.; Deissmann, Light from Anc. East, pp. 330, 331. The different shades of meaning for λύτρον and λύτρα in literature and papyri do not help us much in explaining this passage, which is the basis of Pauline doctrine. The Apostle would know the oral tradition about it.

ἀντὶ πολλῶν. The ἀντί does not belong to δοῦναι, “to give instead of many giving,” but to λύτρον, “a ransom to buy off many” (Matthew 17:27; Hebrews 12:16). And πολλῶν does not mean for His friends, and not for His enemies. See on John 15:13; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 1 John 2:2; 1 Timothy 2:6. That we have πολλῶν instead of πάντων is possibly due to Isaiah 53:11-12 (LXX.). The “many” are contrasted, not with “all,” but with “one”; the surrender of one life rescued millions; ὑπὲρ πάντων γὰρ ἔδωκε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντας ἐλυτρώσατο, εἰ καὶ πολλοὶ θέλοντες ἐνέμειναν ἐν δουλείᾳ (Euthym.). The preposition commonly used of Christ’s dying on our behalf is ὑπέρ.