This is a study on “many” in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 (The Son of Man ” gives his life a ransom for ‘many'”). We can further ask, did Christ die only for the elect (limited atonement) or for all and everyone (unlimited or universal or general atonement)? To answer those questions, I also review other atonement passages.
I write to learn. Let me see what I can learn after studying Scriptures.
The NIV is used in this article, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many (all?) other translations, please go to biblegateway.com.
Let’s begin.
1.. Statement of the Problem
First, Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 say that Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many.
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28)
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
The Greek noun for ransom is lutron (pronounced loo-tron), and in Greek writings at the time, it most often referred to the purchase price for freeing slaves.
For further study of this word and others, please see this link:
What Is Redemption in the Bible?
Second, the background to the two verses is Isaiah 53. There the Suffering Servant would suffer for his people. Isaiah 53:10, 12 talks about paying and suffering for the nation. He was the offering for guilt.
… Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt, (Is. 53:10, ESV)
For more discussion about the Suffering Servant being a guilt offering, see this post about Leviticus:
The Guilt Offering from a NT Perspective
And Isaiah. 53:12 says that he bore the sins of many:
… he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:12, ESV)
See my posts:
What Is Redemption in the Bible?
Third, “for” is the preposition “anti” (pronounced ahn-tee), and it typically means “in place of” or “instead of.” It means a substitution. So here we have a basic verse about the substitutionary theory of the atonement.
2.. How do commentators Interpret the word “many” in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45?
I like to refer to a community of scholars / teachers who translate and interpret Scripture itself. Though I don’t agree with everything they write, they keep me from wandering too far. There is safety in numbers (for me at least).
So let’s first allow three prominent commentators of the Gospel of Matthew to provide clarity (for me). And then three commentators for Mark’s Gospel will also opine on their verse.
As for the word “many,” I believe that commentator Richard France (an excellent commentator!) is spot on when he interprets Matthew 20:28 and “many,” as follows:
That Jesus’s death is “in the place of many” should not be taken as a deliberate contrast to “a ransom for all” in 1 Tim. 2:6 (cf., e.g., 2 Cor 5:14-15). The use of “many” derives from the Isa. 53 background and sets up a contrast between the one who dies and the many who benefit. A theology of “limited atonement” is far from the intention of the passage and would be anachronistic in this context (p. 763)
In note 27, France further says that Romans 5:12-19 has the play of “many” and “all.” In vv. 12 and 18, “all” is used, yet in vv. 15 and 19 “many” appears. In other words, the two terms “many” and “all” mean the same thing both in Romans 5:12-19 and here in Matthew 20:28.
In simpler terms: “many” and “all” in contexts like these are synonyms, as the verses in Romans and Isaiah demonstrate.
Next, commentator Craig Blomberg is right: Verse 28 refers to all who accept Jesus’s call of forgiveness:
“Many” refers to all who accept Jesus’ offer of forgiveness, made possible by his death, and who commit their lives to him in discipleship” (comment on 20:28).
Third, grammarian Wesley G. Olmstead also seems right to me, as he quotes two earlier commentators (Davies and Allison) and then writes:
Because, however, the variant of our saying in 1 Tim 2:6 has [all], because [many] elsewhere in the NT sometimes seem to mean ‘all’ (e.g. Rom 5:15, 19), and because one can identify the ‘many’ as all except the Son of man, one should probably give [many] comprehensive meaning. (p. 143)
Let’s now move to Mark’s Gospel.
Professional Greek grammarian Rodney J. Decker says not to overinterpret “many,” though his comments are complicated. He writes:
“Many” … here, is ‘not a large number less than all,’ but is probably to be understood in a Semitic sense … as the equivalent of [all], i.e., used to express extensiveness of the action (all of a small group is not as “big” as a statement as “many”). Note that in 3:10 [“he healed many”] [many] is replaced in the synoptic parallel in Matt. 12:15 with [all]. See the same use in Isa 53:12 (“many” but || “all” in v. 6) and Rom. 5:12 (“all” but || “many” in v. 15. Calvin’s comment is that “‘many’ is used, not for a definite number, but for a large number, in that He sets himself over against all others. And this is the meaning of Rom. 5:15, where Paul is not talking of a part of mankind but of the whole human race.” (Decker, pp. 72-73)
Decker’s comments, though right on, are complicated. Bottom line: “many” means “all” in Mark 10:45, just as it means this in Mark 3:10; Isaiah 53:6, 12 and in Romans 5:12. Making too much of “many,” literally, as if it does not mean “all,” overworks the text and is a clunky interpretation. The limited atonement doctrine cannot be found here in this context.
I like James A. Brooks’ short observation on Mark 10:45:
No attempt should be made to limit how many are those for whom Jesus died. The word in context does not mean many but not all. Rather it is a Semitism that means all who are many. In the similar statement in 1 Tim 2:6 the word “all” is actually used. (comment on Mark 10:45, p. 171)
“All who are many” means “everyone, and there is a lot of them!”
Mark L. Strauss agrees with the other commentators. He writes:
The qualification “for many” […] does not mean “for some, but not all,” but instead contrasts the one who dies with the many who are redeemed. A single life is given for the ransom of others. Evidence for this is found in Romans 5, where the “one” and “many” (5:15, 19) are parallel and equivalent to the “one” and “all” (5:18), and in 1 Tim. 5:6, where Jesus’s death provides a ransom for all” (comment on 10:45, p. 459, emphasis original).
And so all these commentators on Matthew 29:28 and Mark 10:45 conclude that “many” and “all” are synonyms. “Many” is comprehensive. We should not see any difference between the two terms, in this context. It is anachronistic (out of historical context) to find the limited atonement here.
3.. Parallel Passage in 1 Timothy 2:5-6
Here is the parallel in 1 Timothy 2:5-6:
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. (1 Tim. 2:5-6, emphasis added)
Making too much of the term “many,” literally in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 overworks the text and is a clunky interpretation. It is best to take the word as comprehensive or “all.”
4.. What does a thick Greek lexicon say?
BDAG stands for the four main editors who added to it over the decades: Bauer, Danker, Arndt, Gingrich. Many consider it to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek New Testament. It is a remarkable achievement in any case.
BDAG cites Mark 10:45 and Matthew 20:28 and 1 Timothy. 2:6. Mark 10:44 says that a disciple must be a servant of “all.” So there is a synonym at work between “many” and “all,” in both v. 44 and v. 45..
BDAG calls this an “ascensive all,” which means “many” goes up or ascends a scale to “all.” So combining those three verses theologically (Mark 10:45 and Matthew 20:28 and 1 Timothy 2:6), they could be translated as follows: The Son of Man gives his life “a ransom for many, even all.” Note how “many” ascends to become “all.”
Bottom line: in many instances, “many” and “all” are interchangeable.
5.. Arguments for Limited Atonement and Replies.
It is never a good idea to limit the atonement by indirect reasoning. Here is an example.
(1) People can never resist his grace for salvation;
(2) Not all people are saved;
(3) Therefore his grace for salvation is not offered to everyone;
(4) Therefore his salvation done on the cross (atonement) is limited to the elect, that is, those who were effectually called by grace;
(5) And therefore, finally, the atonement is limited only to the elect.
My opinion: This is convoluted and indirect.
Here’s my reply.
It is better to look directly at verses covering Christ’s atoning death on the cross—and he died for all.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2, emphasis added).
John the Baptist is referred to here. He proclaims of Jesus, the Lamb of God:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
He takes away the sin of the whole world, not a subset or the whole world of the elect or any other such reasoning.
Paul is equally clear. All sin and all are freely justified by his grace:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding off his blood—to be received by faith (Rom. 3:23-25, emphasis added).
Redemption and atonement is received by faith. That’s the application. God’s intention is to provide atonement for all.
This is short and clear. It distinguishes intention (“all”) and extent (for everyone) with application (“those who live”). See the next section, below:
15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Cor. 5:15)
In the next verse, to “taste death” is the same as “experiencing” death. For whom? How many?
9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Heb. 2:9, emphasis added)
He died for everyone.
In these three verses, who are the ungodly and sinners?
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:6-8)
In those verses when Paul writes that Christ “died for us,” he means the Romans to whom he was writing. This does not exclude other ungodly and sinful people who may put their faith in the Messiah, the Son of God (John 20:31), in the future. Everyone–the whole world–who lives is the ungodly and sinners. Christ died for all of them.
The same goes for this verse:
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
John writes to his local community whose sins had already been forgiven or atoned for (“our sins”). This does not exclude anyone or everyone who repents of their sins and puts their faith in Christ, in the future. There is no limitation here or anywhere else in John’s first epistle.
Jesus was sent to save the world, not just a limited few.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 John 4:14)
6.. Intention, Extent, and Application
When we distinguish between those three terms, we have clarity.
God intends the atonement to be for everyone. That is his purpose for it.
The extent is that it is for everyone. He offers it to all. He sent his Son to die for the sin of the whole world.
However, the specific application goes only to those who believe in the Son of God and confess him as Lord (Rom. 10: 9-10).
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Rom. 10:9-10)
I see no limitations here, other than a person calling (or not calling) on the name of the Lord.
Romans 1:16 says the gospel brings salvation to everyone who believes. Thus it seems at first glance that his salvation is limited to the believers, only to the elect.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Rom. 1:16)
However, Titus 2:11 says that grace offers salvation to all people:
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. (Titus 2:11)
The way out of this seeming contradiction is to distinguish the intention of the atonement and salvation (it is purposed for everyone), its extent (it is offered to all), and its application (for those who trust in Jesus).
As noted, Romans 3:22-26 teaches this intention / extent / application distinction. Verse 22 says the atonement is for all who believe, true, but v. 24 says all are justified through the grace through the redemption that came by Christ. And v. 26 he justifies those who believe in Jesus. This makes sense, for he will not (yet) justify those who refuse to trust in him. People must put their faith in Christ to apply the atonement to their lives. Let’s now quote the whole passage as a unit:
22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Rom. 3:22-26)
Therefore, the door is open to anyone and everyone—all—who have faith to receive his grace, which leads to redemption and being justified. And so the atonement is applied to anyone and everyone—all—who have faith!
The initiative begins with God, and our faith responds to his freely offered grace—offered to anyone and everyone—all. His grace is efficacious or effective to everyone who believes or has faith, and Christ’s sacrifice of atonement is received by faith.
Evidently God’s grace, though offered to everyone, is resistible for some people.
And thus we have to distinguish between intention and extent and application. God intended the atonement to be for all. Its extent: Christ died for all. But the application of the atonement is for those who put their faith in Christ.
7.. Conclusion
As I read things, the call of the gospel goes to all, but some won’t respond with saving faith, yet many will. Some people, throughout their entire lives, can “effectually” resist God’s grace and calling to salvation. Grace is resistible.
God graciously gave each person a significant measure of free will, enough to resist the gospel call, but not enough to save himself. For salvation, he needs the Spirit-energized gospel to awaken his saving faith, even provide saving faith in him! Then he responds by putting his faith in the Lord, confesses he is Lord, and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead.
Under those conditions, he is saved. The application of the atonement is his now.
RELATED
The previous two links give the larger context of Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 and include bibliographies at the end.
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