Christ defines his saving mission as a service whose highest expression will be the sacrifice of his life for mankind: “For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45). These words, spoken to counter the disciples’ tendency to seek the first place in the kingdom, are primarily meant to awaken in them a new mentality, which conforms more closely to that of the Teacher. In the Book of Daniel, the figure   described as “one like a son of man” is shown surrounded by the glory due to leaders who receive universal veneration: “all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him” (Dn 7:14). Jesus contrasts this figure with the Son of man who puts himself at the service of all. As a divine person, he would be fully entitled to be served. But in saying he had “come to serve”, he shows a disturbing aspect of God’s behaviour: although he has the right and the power to make himself served, he puts himself “at the service” of his creatures. Jesus expresses this desire to serve in an eloquent and moving way at the Last Supper when he washes his disciples’ feet: a symbolic act which will be impressed as a rule of life on their memory for ever: “You also ought to wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:14).

In saying that the Son of man came to give his life as a ransom for many, Jesus is referring to the prophecy of the suffering Servant who “makes himself an offering for sin” (Is 53:10). It is a personal sacrifice, very different from the animal sacrifices used in ancient worship. It is a life given “as a ransom for many”, that is, for the immense multitude of humanity, for “all”. Jesus thus appears as the universal Saviour: all human beings, according to the divine plan, are ransomed, freed and saved by him. Paul says: “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). Salvation is a gift that can be received by each one to the extent of our free consent and voluntary co-operation.

As universal Saviour, Christ is the only Saviour. Peter affirms this clearly: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). At the same time, he is also proclaimed the only mediator between God and men, as the First Letter to Timothy affirms: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tm 2: 5- 6). As the God-man, Jesus is the perfect mediator who unites men with God, obtaining for them the goods of salvation and divine life. This is a unique mediation which excludes any competing or parallel mediation, although it is compatible with participated forms of mediation (cf. Redemptoris missio, n. 5). Consequently, any other autonomous sources or ways of salvation cannot be admitted apart from Christ.

Pope Saint John Paul II, General Audience, 4 February 1998