R.C. Sproul

Now here, when Jesus, in his frustration, is trying to communicate to his disciples what his own ministry is all about,

when Jesus must state succinctly and poignantly and graphically so that once and for all these dull-witted disciples of his will understand what he's about to do, he says it how.

I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.

The word that is translated ransom here in Mark's gospel is rarely translated by this term, but the concept of the ransom is the root concept in the New Testament behind the broad term that we call redemption.

In biblical categories, a redeemer is one who provides a ransom.

The word is lutron.

that is translated here, ransom.

And some of you who know your Greek, do you know any Greek?

When you learn Greek in college or in seminary, they start off with the first book, you know, book one, volume one, and usually in the very first vocabulary list, the first verb that you learn in Greek, in most Greek textbooks, is the verb ransom.

Luro, which means to loose.

The basic verb form is to loose, to set free, to unbind.

And the concept of the ransom here is built upon this root of loosing something, setting something free that is held in captivity.

Now in the ancient world, the idea of the ransom

function very similar to what the idea of the ransom is in our own language.

Whenever we think of ransom, we think of kidnapping, where somebody steals a person and then demands payment for the free release of the hostage person.

or of the person who is kidnapped.

They expect a monetary payment.

Now, that's the way it functioned in antiquity.

Also, it functioned for a price that was paid to release a slave from bondage.

A slave could be ransomed or hostages held in military conflicts.