John 10:18

John 10:18. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. He lays down His life of Himself. He has the right to do this, and the right to take the life again.

This commandment I received of my Father. By His Father's express commission He has this right of free decision. For the first time Jesus here speaks of the ‘commandment' which He has received, and the use of this term is in full harmony with the position He has assumed throughout the parable, the Shepherd of God's flock, the Servant of Jehovah. On the word ‘love' (John 10:17) see note on chap. John 5:20: the word found in that verse is not used here, for the reason there explained. A question is often asked in relation to the words of these verses: if the teaching of Scripture is that the Father raised the Son from the dead, how can Jesus speak as He here does about His resumption of life? But, if the words ‘this commandment' be interpreted as above, to refer,to the Father's will that the death and resurrection should rest on the free choice of Jesus, the answer is plain: Jesus took His life again in voluntarily accepting the exercise of His Father's power. If we understand the ‘commandment' to relate not to the possession of right or power, but to the actual death and resurrection, the answer is different, but not less easy: Jesus in rising from the dead freely obeys the Father's will, the Father's will is still the ultimate source of the action of the Son.