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For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
  • BSB 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.”
  • NKJV For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
  • NASB 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.”
  • NLT For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. This is the heart of the gospel and the model for all discipleship.

Overview

This climactic verse grounds servant greatness in Jesus' own mission and unveils the meaning of his death. As a "ransom for many," his life is the price that frees sinners from bondage to sin and judgment. Here substitutionary atonement and the call to servanthood meet, for the Servant-King saves by giving himself.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Matt 20:28Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
  • Phil 2:5–8Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
  • 2 Cor 8:9For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
  • Titus 2:14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
  • John 13:14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
  • John 10:15As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
  • Heb 5:8Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
  • Luke 22:26–27But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
  • Isa 53:10–12Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
  • 1 Pet 1:19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
  • 2 Cor 5:21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
  • Dan 9:26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
  • Gal 3:13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
  • Dan 9:24Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
  • 1 Tim 3:4–6One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Mark 10:45YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 10:45 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.