Chapter 264 of 404

Martyrdom and Atonement in Early Judaism

Jesus’ salvific understanding of his death was intelligible in the tradition precisely because it was not isolated, but belonged to a wider framework of understanding about atoning blood sacrifice, suffering, and martyrs’ sacrificial death. Greeks understood the notion of expiatory sacrifice,²²⁰ but we need not look so far afield.²²¹ 4 Maccabees probably offers the closest extrabiblical parallels to atoning martyrdom in the first century.²²² In 4 Macc 17:22, God watched over Israel because the blood of martyrs atoned for the land (cf. also a martyr’s prayer that his suffering would substitute for that of Israel in 4 Macc 6:28-29).²²³ Indeed, the concept is already present in the much earlier work 2 Maccabees, where martyrs suffer to turn away God’s wrath from Israel (7:37-38).²²⁴

Some contend that Isaiah’s suffering servant provides an earlier model for this conception of atonement, followed by Qumran and possibly 4 Maccabees. ²²⁵ Like Jesus at the Last Supper, the saying in Mk 10:45 probably alludes to the suffering servant of Isaiah, particularly in Jesus not only serving but offering his “soul” or “life” (Is 53:12) as a ransom or redemption price (cf. Is 53:10- 11)²²⁶ on behalf of “the many” (Is 53:11-12; cf. Rom 5:15). Despite the different paths they have taken into Greek, the numerous correspondences between our first extant appearance of this saying in Mark (Mk 10:45) and the language of Isaiah suggest that Isaiah’s servant was in view from the start.²²⁷

In any case, it was natural for Jesus’ followers to apply the Jewish understanding of atoning martyrdom to Jesus’ death.²²⁸ What is more striking from the standpoint of our historical purpose is that this application appears in our earliest tradition of the Lord’s Supper, attested in both Paul and Mark — hence probably stemming from Jesus himself. Jesus intended to be martyred, and apparently believed that his martyrdom would appease God’s anger against his people (which was what many expected the death of martyrs to do). In view of Jesus’ expectation of impending judgment on the land (Matt 23:34-38//Lk 11:49- 51), however, he might view the atonement as particularly efficacious for the new remnant community he was founding.

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