Matthew 20:28 to Isaiah 53:10-12

NT Text: Matthew 20:28

OT Source(s):

• Isaiah 53:10-12 (the Servant's life as a guilt offering, bearing sin of the many)

Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Reference Type: Allusion

Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment + Typology (Direct Type, Forward-Looking)

Anchor Text: Isa 52:13-53:12 — The Suffering Servant

Significance: Jesus's ransom saying — "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom (lytron) for many (anti pollōn)" — is widely recognized as a direct allusion to Isaiah 53:10-12. Isaiah 53:10 speaks of the Servant making his life a guilt offering (asham), and verse 12 states he "poured out his soul to death" and "bore the sin of many (rabbim)." The Greek anti pollōn ("for many") directly echoes the LXX polloi of Isaiah 53:12. The concept of lytron (ransom price, redemption payment) corresponds to the asham offering — a substitutionary payment that effects release from guilt. Jesus here identifies himself explicitly as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, interpreting his approaching death not as tragedy but as the appointed substitutionary sacrifice through which the many will be ransomed. This is one of the clearest self-identifications with the Servant role in the Synoptic tradition.