John 10:18
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No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again--It is impossible for language more plainly and emphatically to express the absolute voluntariness of Christ's death, such a voluntariness as it would be manifest presumption in any mere creature to affirm of his own death. It is beyond all doubt the language of One who was conscious that His life was His own (which no creature's is), and therefore His to surrender or retain at will. Here lay the glory of His sacrifice, that it was purely voluntary. The claim of "power to take it again" is no less important, as showing that His resurrection, though ascribed to the Father, in the sense we shall presently see, was nevertheless His own assertion of His own right to life as soon as the purposes of His voluntary death were accomplished. This commandment--to "lay down His--life, that He might take it again." have I received of my Father--So that Christ died at once by "command" of His Father, and by such a voluntary obedience to that command as has made Him (so to speak) infinitely dear to the Father. The necessity of Christ's death, in the light of these profound sayings, must be manifest to all but the superficial student.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have, I. Christ's parabolical discourse concerning himself as the door of the sheepfold, and the shepherd of the sheep (v. 1-18). II. The various sentiments of people upon it (Joh 10:19-21). III. The dispute Christ had with the Jews in the temple at the feast of dedication (v. 22-39). IV. His departure into the country thereupon (Joh 10:40-42).
Open source ↗10:18 No one can take my life from me: The Son’s death was voluntary. Jesus was not a martyr or a victim. His decision to die was freely given in obedience and intimate relationship with his Father (see Acts 2:23-24). • Jesus’ resurrection was not an afterthought in which God rescued his Son from tragedy. God could not be contained by a tomb, and since Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus possessed the authority to rise from death.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.
But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.