John 10:18

lay it down of myself.

His life. He gave himself for man of his free will. He laid down his life on the cross; he took it again when he rose from the dead. The plots of men would have been of no avail had he not consented. Indeed his whole life from the time his ministry began was. laying of it down. While constantly bearing the cross he was marching straight to the cross. From the very beginning of his teaching there are references to the death he should die (see John 3:14).