Mt 20:28/Lk 22:27/(Mk 10:46)
Part of the context of this statement in Matthew is Jesus’ response to the sons of Zebedee: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” That this is the cup of suffering is quite clear from Mt 26:39. In the history of Israel the time of the Exile was the “cup of God’s wrath” (Jer 25:15-31; 49:12; Ezek 23:31-33), and near the end of the Exile Deutero-Isaiah announced that Yahweh would now take the cup of his wrath from the exiles and put it into the hand of their tormentors (51:17-20). But Jesus now sees that like the Servant of Isaiah 53, he must still drink that cup in order to bring Servant Israel’s role to completion (Mark, who follows Matthew’s version closely, thinks the cup refers to the Eucharist and so adds a reference to Baptism, Mk 10:38, 39). With this in mind the allusion to Isa 53:10-12 in Mt 20:28 becomes clear. Both “his soul” and “many” are used three times in that passage in a context of suffering and death. But λυτρον, “ransom,” is not really a translation of the Hebrew אשׁם, “guilt offering.” In Isa 53:10 the latter implies that Israel as a nation gave her life in exile as a guilt offering for her own sin. The “ransom” here implies that Jesus gave his life to bring about Israel’s redemption and through her witness also that of the nation. The Greek verb λυτροω is often used to translate the Hebrew גאל, “redeem.” This word is used 22 times in Isaiah 40-66. It means to pay the ransom price to buy back a relative from slavery. Yahweh is that relative (referred to variously in the role of father/mother or husband to Israel/Jerusalem) who will redeem Israel from exile and restore his Kingdom. According to Matthew, then, Jesus is saying that his purpose is to give his life to bring about this redemption for many. Thus the two Isaian concepts—that of the servant who becomes a guilt offering in death and is raised up to live in righteousness and to declare many righteous, and the redemption which God brings about—have been merged. As he lives out his representative role as Servant Israel/Son of man, Jesus sees this as his supreme act in bringing about the Kingdom (Cf Mt 3:15).
Luke’s account (22:24-27) is considerably diminished and generalizes, to that Luke has Jesus as not the one who sits at table, but as the one who serves. The account lacks any allusion to Isaiah 40-66. However, the verbal form λυτροω is used in the story of the men on the way to Emmaus who say of Jesus: “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel(Lk 24:21).
Mt 26:28/Lk 22:20/(Mk 14:23, 24)
,In the light of Mt 20:28 it is easy to see the image of the Isaianic Servant in what Matthew records Jesus as saying in the Last Supper. This saying draws on a number of images—the sealing of the covenant by sprinkling blood in Exo 24:8, the reaffirmation of Isa 42:6-7; 49:9; 61:1-3 against the background of the covenant renewal ceremony and the pouring out of the sacrificial blood during the Feast of Booths in Zech 9:11-12. However, the words, “which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” must recall Isa 53:12: “He poured out his soul to death . . . yet he bore the sin of many.” Only Matthew has “for the forgiveness of sins.” Some see this as a gloss which detracts from the main point of the saying. But, as stated earlier, in Isaiah 40-66 the forgiveness of sins is the basis for the restoration of the Kingdom, and in Isaiah 53 the Servant’s suffering is seen as the means for extending that forgiveness to the nations. So it is really essential here. In the next verse (Mt 26:29), Jesus’ statement that he will not drink wine again until he drinks it new with the disciples in the Father’s Kingdom refers to Isa 55:1-5, where it speaks of sharing in the blessings of the restored Kingdom in an everlasting covenant with God.
While Mark’s rendering of this saying is fairly close to Matthew’s (he omits “for the forgiveness of sins” with Luke), Luke’s account is shorter, tones down the allusions to Isa 53:12, omits the allusion to Isa 55:1-5, and has more in common with the Pauline version in 1 Cor 11:25.
There are other Isaian allusions in Matthew. In 21:5, Matthew combines a quotation from Isa 62:11 with Zech 9:9. This is omitted by Luke, but he does retrain the quotation from Isa 56:7 (Lk 19:46; Mt 21:13), probably because of the importance of prayer in his Gospel. Matthew’s allusions to Isa 34:4 and 13:10 in Mt 24:29 is diminished in Lk 21:25-26. The parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) with its allusion to Isa 58:7 is not in Luke. Matthew’s allusions to Isa 53:7 (“he opened not his mouth”) in 26:63 and 27:12, 14 are not in Luke. Luke omits the “spitting” (Isa 50:6) of Mt 26:67 but he has included it in the third passion prediction (18:32), while Mathew does not (20:19). Luke’s accounts of the passion predictions are essentially the same as Matthew’s but with a strong emphasis on the disciples’ lack of understanding (Lk 9:45; 18:34).
(Adrian M. Leske, “The Influence of Isaiah on Christology in Matthew and Luke,” in William R. Farmer, ed. Crisis in Christology: Essays in Quest of Resolution [Livonia, Mich.: Dove Booksellers, 1995], 241-69, here, pp. 261-62)
As the above touches upon Eucharistic theology, too, be sure to check out the listing of articles I have at
Responses to Robert Sungenis, Not By Bread Alone (2000/2009)
