Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 20:28

"even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." — Matthew 20:28 (ASV)

At this point Jesus presents himself—the Son of Man (see comment on Mk 8:31)—as the supreme example of service to others. The verse is clearly important to our understanding of Jesus’ view of his death.

It is natural to take “did not come” as presupposing at least a hint of Jesus’ preexistence, though the language does not require it. He came not to be served, like a king dependent on countless courtiers and attendants, but to “serve” (GK 1354) others. The Son of Man had every right to expect to be served, but he served instead. Implicit is a self-conscious awareness of one who, because of his heavenly origin, possessed divine authority, but who humbled himself even to the point of undergoing an atoning death (cf. Php 2:6–9). The display of divine glory shines most brightly when it is set aside for the sake of redeeming humankind by a shameful death.

The Son of Man came “to give his life a ransom for many.” The word “ransom” (GK 3389) was most commonly used as the purchase price for freeing slaves; and there is good evidence that the notion of “purchase price” is always implied in the NT use of this word, even though there is never any mention of the one to whom the price is paid. The preposition “for” denotes substitution or exchange; Jesus took our place.

The “many” (GK 4498) underlines the immeasurable effects of Jesus’ solitary death: the one dies, the many find their lives “ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven”—a great host no one can number. But it should be remembered that “many” can refer, in Jewish literature, to the elect community. This suggests Jesus’ substitutionary death is payment for and results in the eschatological people of God. This well suits the “many” of Isa 52:13–53:12 (a passage that seems to underlie this verse). Matthew has earlier explicitly related the “Servant Passage” of Isaiah to Jesus .