Jesus was to die and rise again by his own will

JESUS WAS TO DIE AND RISE AGAIN BY HIS OWN WILL
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 10:17-18 17Thereason my Father loves me is
that I lay down my life-onlyto take it up again. 18No
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 command I receivedfrom my
Father."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The DeathOf Christ
John 10:17, 18
B. Thomas
I. IT INVOLVES THE GREATEST SACRIFICE.
1. It was a sacrifice oflife. "I lay down my life." It was his own life, and not
that of another. Thousands of lives are sacrificedduring war by the existing
government; but these are the lives of others, and not their own. But the death
of Christ involved the sacrifice of his own life. It was personal.
2. It was a sacrifice ofthe most precious life. Every life is very precious - that
of the floweror that of the animal; but human life is more precious still.
Personallyconsidered, everyhuman life is equally precious;but relatively,

some lives are more precious than others. The life of the generalis thus more
precious than that of the common soldier. But of all the lives that have graced
this world, the life of Christ was the most precious and valuable.
(1) It was so in itself. What makes man's life more precious than that of the
animal, but its being the vehicle of a higher intelligence, and immortal and
responsible spirit which makes him at once to belong to a higher order of
being? The life of Christ was really human, but it was perfectand sinless.
This, togetherwith its mysterious union with the Divine nature, made him to
stand alone - a new and a higher order of being. He was Divine and yet
human, human and yet Divine, which made his life infinitely valuable in itself.
(2) It was so in relation to this world. To this world how useful was sucha life!
What blessings of intelligence, revelation, holy example, spiritual
communications, and of Divine benevolence it was calculatedto bestow!The
short time he was permitted to live proves this.
(3) It was so to the whole universe. The value of such a life was not confined to
this world, but extended to the utmost regions of the Divine empire. Heaven
was in close and constantcommunication with him during his earthly life, and
he with it. How dear was he to the Father and all his holy family! How
precious was his life! What a tax upon Divine affections was his death!
Nature's gloom on the occasionwas but a faint shadow of heaven's mourning.
What a sacrifice!
3. It was a sacrifice involving the greatestsufferings.
(1) Think of the sinlessnessofhis nature. Sinfulness of nature habituates that
nature to suffering. But Christ's characterwas not only spotless, but his

nature was sinless. Thus the very idea of death must be to him extremely
repulsive, and its actual pangs beyond description painful.
(2) Think of the greatnessofhis nature. Little natures are capable of but very
little pleasure or pain, but large natures are largely capable of both. The
capacityof Christ for suffering is outside our experience and far beyond our
comprehension.
(3) Think of the cruelty of his death. He suffered the death of crucifixion, with
all its attendant shame, ignominy, pains, and agonies. All that infernal hatred
could devise he had to suffer.
II. HIS DEATH WAS PURELY SELF-SACRIFICING. To prove and
illustrate this, considerthe following things.
1. His life was absolutelyhis own. "My life." No other man canabsolutely call
his life his own. With the exceptionof Christ's, every man's life is borrowed;
he is a tenant at will, and not from year to year, but from breath to breath.
But Christ's life was absolutely his own.
2. He had an absolute control over it. Not merely it was his own, but he could
dispose of it as he wished. "No one takethit from me."
(1) This was true with regard to all men. There was no power in Jerusalem,
nor in Rome, nor in the whole world combined, that could take it from him.

(2) This was true with regard to the devil It is said that the devil had the
powerof death, and in a sense this was true. But it was not true with regardto
Jesus;he was sinless, and he was almighty. He could say, "The prince of this
world cometh," etc. He had neither a right to nor the powerover the life of
Christ.
(3) This was true with regard to the Father. In a true sense he is the absolute
Proprietor of life; but this Jesus, as the Eternal Son, shared with him, and his
incarnate life did not deprive him of this Divine prerogative. Even in that state
it was given him to have life in himself. Thus the Father could not nor would
not take it from him.
3. His death was purely voluntary.
(1) It was his own personalact. His life was absolutely his own, and he laid it
down.
(2) It was the actof his free will and choice. There was no circumstantial and
personalnecessity, there was no coercion. Who on earth or in hell could
coerce him? and who in heaven would? The self-sacrificing idea was purely
voluntary and self-inspiring, and to carry it out costhim infinite
condescension. He bad to become a man before he could have the power to lay
down his life. He could not die in heaven; no one can die there, much less he
who is the Life itself. But in human nature death to him was possible and
right. It would be a small thing for a Being of infinite powerand goodness to
boastof his powerand right to live; the greatthing for him was to have the
powerto die. With becoming pride Jesus boasts ofthis. "I have power to lay it
down." But all this was from his free and independent choice. "I lay it down
of myself." In this, and in this alone with regard to the Father, he claims

absolute independency of action, involving his perfect voluntariness - the
sweetestodorof the sacrifice.
(3) It was purely voluntary to the last. He could evade the cross, couldcome
down from it, could live on it, and in spite of it and its agonies."He bowed his
head, gave up the ghost," etc.
4. His death wets purely vicarious. Every-man must die for himself. It is the
debt of nature. But Christ had no debt of his ownto pay. He came under the
law of death to pay the debts of others, and. redeem them from the curse.
III. HIS DEATH CALLED FORTHTHE SPECIALCOMMENDATIONOF
THE FATHER. "Therefore doth," etc. For this:
1. As it was for the noblest purposes. "ThatI might take it again." These
purposes were:
(1) The perfection of his ownlife. His mediatorial life was made perfect
through sufferings. He attained a perfectlife through death.
(2) The perfection of the lives of all believers in him. The lives of all believers
are potentially perfect in his perfectedand glorified life; for he died and
triumphed, not for himself, but for others. "BecauseI live, ye shall live also."
His life was more valuable when taken againthan when laid down.
(3) These purposes were worthy of the sacrifice. There is adequate
compensation. Eventhe precious life of Jesus was thus put out on good

interest; there was no loss nor waste, but infinite gain. The gain of salvationto
the world, the gain of unspeakable glory to the Divine throne. The purposes
were well worthy of the Son and the Father.
2. As it was the fulfillment of Divine will.
(1) The salvation of the human race is a Divine idea, impulse, and plan.
(2) An infinite sacrifice was essentialto carry this out. It was essentialto
satisfy the claims of Divine justice, law, and holiness, and also to satisfy
human wants, and to remove sin and guilt and enmity. "Without the shedding
of blood," etc., is a Divine sentiment, and it was ever echoedby the human
conscience.
(3) The death of Christ fully met this requirement. In the sacrifice ofJesus,
Divine love is satisfied and fulfilled. It finds a platform upon which to act, a
channel through which to flow, and a suitable instrument by which to effect
its grand purposes of mercy and salvation.
3. As it was a specialactof obedience to the Divine will.
(1) His death was in obedience to a specialexpressionof the Divine will. "This
commandment have I," etc. This command was not arbitrary, but the eternal
law of love. The principle of obedience in Christ is as old as the law of love in
the Divine nature. But this self-sacrificing actwas a specialexpressionofit.
And Jesus obeyed.

(2) It was in loving obedience to the Divine will. It was the obedience of love.
There is no coercionin the command, there is no servility in the obedience.
The command is the natural suggestionof love; the obedience is the natural
response oflove, the expressionof loving sympathy - sympathy of nature and
purpose. The command was the expressionof the Divine heart, and the law of
obedience was in the heart of Jesus. It was the obedience of pure love.
(3) It was a practical and public manifestationof obedience to the Divine will.
The Fatherneeded no proof of the Son's loving obedience. But the world, and
perhaps the whole universe, neededthis, and to them it was most important
and beneficial. Christ gave a specialproof and manifestation of this in his self-
sacrificing death, which calledforth a specialexpressionof the Father's
commendation.
4. Jesus throughout was everconscious ofhis Father's approbation. This was
felt:
(1) In his conscious powerto lay down his life.
(2) In his conscious powerto take it again. There is an inseparable connection
betweenthe two. He could not take it again without laying it down, and could
not lay it down but in the certainty of taking it again. All have the power of
laying down their lives, but not to take them again. Jesus had both the power
of death and life, and the latter was the reward of his sell-sacrificing and
loving obedience.
(3) In his conscious knowledgethatthe Fatheracceptedand was pleasedwith
his sacrifice. Whatcangive us such pleasure and strength as to know that
what we do is most gratifying to the chief object of our affection? Jesus felt

that his sacrifice was acceptedby his Father with infinite delight and
gratitude. This was like a Divine sunbeam on his soul throughout the intense
gloomof his humiliation and suffering.
LESSONS. We have here:
1. The highest example of pastoralfidelity and devotion.
2. The highest example of a noble and self-sacrificing life.
3. The highest example, of filial obedience.
4. The royal road to God's specialapprobation. Follow the footsteps ofChrist,
in his self-sacrificing life, in his loving obedience;and this will result in our
Father's specialcommendation and love. - B.T.
The mastery of life
Fred. Brooks.
These are the strongestwords that human lips have uttered, I think; the
strongest, becausethey give us a glimpse of what elsewhere we cannotfind in
man or his history — the complete mastery and control of life. Where is the
man who comes to life as the workmancomes to his clay or marble, and
shapes out his idea preciselyas he first has thought and designedit, and leaves
it fulfilled without that obedient material having demanded any change in the
work? How little of such mastery you and I have. Your very purpose in life, of
which you speak so proudly, have you not gotit by living? And when you had

conceivedit, when you had said "I will," "Thatis my purpose," did life flow
liquidly and obediently into your mould, and stay there, and harden in it
lastingly? Who has just the life he planned? And when you begin to see your
purpose, or something like it, coming on:, of life, what controlhave you over it
and its continuance? You have time to say, "Yes, that is the shape of my wish,
of my plan," and you or it are hurried away. But even suppose that a man
cares not whether his purpose be lasting, if for a moment he reaches the place
at which he had aimed; if he stands there where he had struggledthrough life
to be; if he has made life carry him there — is he not master and victor? May
he not say, as the soldier who dies in victory, "I die happy"? The hands that
stiffen at that moment, are they not, after all, a conqueror's? Oh! but think if
the mastery of life does not include something else. It is not only to carry one's
own purpose for a moment; it is to do it in such a way as to show that you are
not indebted to life's favour for it; that it is not a gift to you; that you will take
it at your own time, as one who is completely, unanxiously master; that you
will not be hurried by the thought, "Now life is offering me my prize; if not
now, never";but can quietly choose the time of acquisition when it is best, and
then reachout the hand to take it. But stop again. Masteryof human life — is
it not something vastly more than all of this? Is it not to be above counting it
indispensable, to use it only as one help in the working out of the great
purpose; to lay it down, and yet win the aim by other help; to lay it down as a
workmanputs down a tooland takes it again? But who of us is so boldly
independent as that? Who canwork out his human purpose without the help
of human life? But I must go yet one greatstep farther in this description of
what it is to be a master of human life. It is this: Suppose you were
independent of this human life, yet you are not masterof it if it canwith. draw
itself and you have no powerto keepor resume it. If, after showing your
ability to do without it, it were able to keepawayfrom you, if you had no
powerto take it again, you would not be its master. That is the complete
mastery of human life, not only to work out your purpose independently of it,
but to really resume it, to take it againwhen it has been laid down...Ifind, in
the midst of all this history of man and his life — believing himself master,
and yet never so in reality — one life which has no such feature, which could
never have been troubled by the thought of fate. There is One among all
human existences whichbears all the marks of the mastership of life, which

claims from all the title of Lord and Master. First of all, Christ comes to
human life with His own purpose fully formed and self-originated. He brought
a Divine purpose to earth. Then see how absolutely, without change, that
purpose of Christ's is carried out. Not a feature is altered; not a circumstance
is varied, nor any addition made. It is accomplishedjust according to the
heavenly purpose. Life has no powerto change it in the smallestparticular.
But this royal purpose, will not human life override it, and outgrow it, and
destroy it, or gatherit into itself and its own purpose, like the little rift that
your hand makes in the waterof the strong river? Will it remain as it was
planned? How those words, "the everlasting gospel,"answerourquestion!
What is there but the word of God, which endures forever? Oh! what is there
today in the world which remains unchanged but the salvationof Christ? But
did life give to Him the fulfilment of His purpose, as it does to its favourites,
granting the prize to Him in its owntime as its favour? I do not know
anything more quietly grand about Jesus'life than the way in which He
choosesthe very time when it all shall be done. "My time is not yet come;" "I
lay down My life of Myself";"I must work today and tomorrow, and the third
day I shall be perfected," He says, consciousofcontrolling the time
completely. But how His Mastershipgrows upon us! Still let me go on to show
you how His greatpurpose is independent of human life. Life is not
indispensable to it as to our purpose. He can fulfil His purpose in loss of life,
and by loss of life. "I lay down My life of Myself. This commandment have I
receivedof My Father." The Divine purpose is not lost, but won, by passing
into death. "I, if I be lifted up, shall draw all men unto Me." How little is
human life necessaryto His purpose, who died that we might live! How little
dependent on this human existence is that love of God which came from
heaven, which has heaven's life, which is greaterthan death, which survives
the loss of earthly life! There is but one more addition. "I have power to lay it
down, and I have powerto take it again." Here is the highest and last signof
the Master. Canyou not see how the river of life flows from the throne of God
and the Lamb, where Christ, the ascendedGod-man, sits, who has taken
human life again? Christ would take us all into His greatpurpose. Follow
your own human purposes alone, and then, indeed, life is your master. But
become our Lord's follower, have a share in His purpose, have a realpart and
place in the salvationof Christ, and then you, too, have a superiority to life, a

mastery of life. Then you, too, are living for an aim which life did not give
you; an aim which life cannot modify or destroy; an aim which will be fulfilled
in its ownchosentime of heavenly happiness; an aim that can survive death
and the loss of human life; an aim which, in a resurrection, will be able by its
powerto resume life as its obedient servant.
(Fred. Brooks.)
I have powerto take it again.
Our Lord's resumption of life
Canon Liddon.
I. WAS HIS OWN ACT. Nowhere is the majesty of our Lord's Divine Person
more manifest than here.
1. He had powerto lay His life down. Could we use His words? There is much
in life we can control, but not our way of leaving it.(1) So far from laying it
down, we yield it up. It is wrung from us by disease, violence, oraccident. No
men of this century have wielded more powerthan the two Napoleons;they
little meant to die — the first at St. Helena, the third at Chislehurst. Bishop
Wilberforce never entered a railway carriage without reflecting that he might
never leave it alive. He was a fearless horseman, but he met his death when
riding at a walking pace.(2)But cannota man lay down his life at pleasure?
And did not the Stoics commend it? As a matter of physical possibility, we
can; but what about its morality? It is at once cowardice and murder.(3) A
goodman may find it his duty to acceptdeathat the hands of others. Patriots
and martyrs have had moral powerto lay down their lives; but they could not
control the circumstances whichmade death a duty.(4) Our Lord's actdiffers
from that of the suicide in its moral elevation (ver. 11), and from that of the
martyr in His command of the situation. As the Lord of Life, He speaks ofHis
human life as His creature.

2. He had powerto take it again.(1)Here His majesty is more apparent, for
He speaks ofa control over His life which no mere man can possibly have.
When soul and body are sundered, there is no force in the soul such as can
reconstitute the body. In the Biblical cases ofresurrection, the powercame
from without.(2) Here barbarism and civilization are on a level. Science has
done wonders in bringing the various forces of nature under control;but no
scientistcherishes the hope of undoing the work of death, or of keeping it
indefinitely at bay.(3) When Christ claims to take His life again, He stands in
relation to His life, which is only intelligible if we believe Him to be the Son of
God.
II. WAS HIS ACT AND THE FATHER'S CONJOINTLY?
1. He is repeatedly said to have been raised by the Father. This was Peter's
language (Acts 2:24; Acts 3:15; Acts 4:10; Acts 5:30; Acts 10:40), and Paul's
(Acts 13:30-37;1 Thessalonians 1:10;2 Timothy 2:3; Romans 4:24-25;
Romans 6:4; Romans 3:11, etc., etc.).
2. On the ether hand, our Lord speaks ofit as an act distinctly His own (Mark
10:34;Luke 13:33;John 2:19, and text).
3. There is no contradictionhere. The resurrection does not cease to be
Christ's actbecause it is the Father's. When God acts through mere men, He
makes them His instruments; but the powerwhich effectedthe resurrectionis
as old as the eternalgenerationof the Son (chap. John 5:26).
4. There is a moment when imagination, under the conduct of faith,
endeavours, but in vain, to realize when the human soul of our Lord,

surrounded by myriads of angels, onHis return from the ancient dead, came
to the grave of Josephand claimed the body that had hung upon the cross.
III. SUGGESTS THE FOLLOWING CONSIDERATIONS.
1. What Christianity truly means. Not mere loyalty to the precepts of a dead
teacher, or admiration of a striking characterwho lived eighteenhundred
years ago. It is something more than literary taste or a department of moral
archaeology. It is devotion to a living Christ. If it were a false religion, literary
men might endeavour to reconstructthe history of its earliestage. This is
what has been done with the great teachers ofantiquity, and with Christ. But
there is this difference. What Socrates, etc.,were is all that we can know of
them now. They cannothelp us or speak to us. But in the fulness of that power
which He assertedatHis resurrection, Christ still rules and holds communion
with every believer. A living Christianity means a living Christ.
2. What is the foundation of our confidence in the future of Christianity?
Basedas it is on a Christ who raisedHimself from the dead, it cannot pass
away.(1)Mankind has lavished admiration on greatteachers;but they have
died and been forgotten. Their age proclaimed the dust of their writings gold;
a succeeding age scarcelyopens their folios. Why are we certainthat this fate
does not awaitChrist? Becausemen's loyalty rests not on His words mainly,
but in His Person. Christis Christianity. And why is it that, in thus clinging to
His Person, Christianfaith is so sure of the future? Because she has before her
not a Christ who was conqueredby death.(2) Had it been otherwise
Christianity might have perished more than once;by the wickednessofthe
Roman Court in the tenth century; by the hordes of Islam in the first flush of
their conquests, or by the great Turkish sultans of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries;by the accumulated weightof corruption which invited the
Reformation; by the Babel which the Reformationproduced; by the relation
of the Church to corrupt governments:by the dishonest enterprises of

unbelieving theologians. Mensaidthe Church was killed under Decius and
Diocletian, afterthe French Revolution. But eachcollapse is followedby a
revival, because Christ willed to rise.
3. What is our hope for the departed? BecauseChristlives, they live also;
because He rose, they shall rise.
(Canon Liddon.)
I lay down My life
Victim and priest
J. O. Dykes, D. D.
Types, like shadows, are one-sidedthings. Hence in the shadowyworship of
Judaism Christ was brokenly seenin a variety of disconnectedimages. The
sacrificiallamb was a picture of Him who is the first of sufferers and the only
sin bearer;but the dumb brute, led in unresisting ignorance to the altar, not
otherwise than it might have been to the shambles, was no picture of the
perfect willingness with which He devoted His life to God. For the type of that
we must go to the white-robed priest. There was need for a double shadow.
But in the one real sacrifice the two are one. Jesus is priest and victim. There
are certainsteps we must take in comprehending Christ's self-sacrificing will
as expressedin the text.
I. It was CONSTANT. The strength of one's will to suffer is tested by its
deliberate formation and persistentendurance.
1. Our Saviour's resolutionwas no impulse born of excited feeling, liable to
fail before calmer thought; nor a necessityfor which He was gradually

prepared, and at last shut up to through circumstances;but a habitual
purpose, steadily kept in view from the first, till it grew almost to a passion.
"How am I straitened," etc.
2. Many men are heroic only by impulse; give time, and the bravery yields to
"prudence." Men have ignorantly taken the first step towards martyrdom;
but, having takenit, have felt bound to go forward. But when the mind can
form so terrible a purpose, and calmly hold it on for years, in the face of
unromantic neglectand mockery, the purpose must have its roots deep. Such
will was never in any except Christ. Precious life, which carried its own death
in its bosom, like a bunch of sweetflowers, filling all its days with fragrance.
II. It was ACTIVELY FREE.
1. While resignationwas the habitual attitude of His soul, there was more than
resignation. We underestimate His priestly act, by thinking more of His
willingness than of His will to suffer. "I lay down My life" means that, with
ardent desire and fixed resolution, He is, at His own choice, giving awayHis
own Spiritual Person, including that which is the most personalthing of all —
His will. And this active exposure to penalty accompaniedHim through every
stage. His was both the right and strength at every stage to free His soul; but
He chose to go on deeperinto the darkness till all was over. This came out
very plainly when Peterput before Him the alternative; when, His time being
come, He set Himself to go to Jerusalem, when He said to Judas, "Whatthou
doest," etc.;when, on His arrest, He spoke about the legion of angels;yes, and
when the torment reachedHim, "Let Him now come down from the cross."
2. Now, it is harder to will a disagreeable lotthan to consentto bear it when it
is laid upon us. Many a man has piety to submit to unavoidable evil, or even to
rest in it as wise, who would yet be unequal to make it a choice. Mostmen,

therefore, aim at nothing higher than passive acquiescencein suffering; but it
is nobler to sealGod's afflictive will with our own, and will not to have it
otherwise. It is a further advance still to enter voluntarily into affliction for
righteousness sake. Yeteven the martyr's choice ofdeath before sin is less
absolute and free than that of Christ.
III. It was CROSSEDBY HINDRANCES FROM THE WEAKNESS OF THE
FLESH AND IT OVERCAME THEM. As you walk by the side of a deep,
swift-running river, you know not how strong the current is till you reachthe
rapids, where its flow is broken. So on reading the smooth, constantstory of
Jesus'life, there is little to tell us with what powerHe was advancing to His
agony. Nearthe end came one or two places where this was seen(chap. John
12:27-29). Thatwas a short struggle. His will to die soonovercame the
momentary perplexity, and the voice from heavenwas needed not by Him, but
for the bystanders. This, however, was only a foretaste ofthe greaterstrife in
the garden— the weak fleshagainstthe willing spirit; yet in the end it is
divinely upborne to bear the unimaginable suffering for the world's guilt. In
that hour He sacrificedHimself — laid down His life. With what relief do we
read, "It is enough, the hour has come," etc.
(J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
Therefore doth My Father love Me.
The Father's love of Jesus
A. Mackennal, D. D.
Observe what Christ says —

I. OF LAYING DOWN HIS LIFE.
1. No mere man could have said this. Poweroverlife is God's prerogative. To
none but the Son has He "given to have life in Himself"; and power "to take it
again" is manifestly not ours. But we must not separate this claim from His
obedience. Christ knows no powerbut to do the Father's will.
2. Much of our metaphysics is here silenced. Is obedience free if we are not
also free to disobey? The truest liberty is voluntary restraint. The freedom of
obedience is learnedas we love to obey. The fullest consciousnessofpoweris
that of power to do God's will.
3. Christ's assertionofpower is intended to illustrate His obedience. "I lay
down My life of Myself." He could have withdrawn Himself from the people,
or by yielding to their prejudices have wonthem. He could have awedthem,
as He did the soldiers, by His majestic presence. He had powerover men's
consciences, as was seenin the case ofthe Pharisees who brought the woman
takenin adultery, and in the case ofPilate. The concealedaid of heaven was at
His bidding. But more than all this was the strength of His submission. He
speaks ofHis power to show how full was His obedience.
4. We have here an awful revelationof the powerlessnessofsin. The Jews
were simply tolerated, ignorant of the power that restraineditself. So with all
sinners. But Christ was thus patient that when they had done their worstHe
might be their Saviour.
5. The chief truth here is the fulness of Christ's obedience. The consciousness
that we might escapewould be to us a motive for disobedience. We are kept

submissive by weakness. He speaks notof power to avoid the sacrifice but to
make it.
II. OF THY FATHER'S LOVE.
1. We see the reasonof this partly in Christ's obedience. Here is the oneness of
the Fatherand the Son; the Son rejoices to obey; the Fathercommits His
whole counselto the Son that He may accomplishit.
2. The commandment was that Christ should lay down His life for the sheep.
The Father's love for the Son is not one in which all others are shut out. We
read that God did not "rest" in Creationtill He had made man in His own
image. His love is so bountiful that it forms objects on which to lavish itself.
Here we have something more surprising — the pity for lost man which is in
the Father, and that pity finding response in the Son. Well was it said that
"Godis love."
3. Christ tells us why the Fatherloves Him.(1) That we may know the men
who are dearestto God — not as with us the learned, wealthy, powerful, but
the obedient and loving.(2) That we may understand Christ's life and death.
Neither Jews nor disciples could understand the Man of Sorrows. Hence the
double proclamation, "This is My beloved Son." How many a reasonhas been
given why Christ must die! But how poor all reasons beside the simple one
that He loved us.(3)In order that we may know God. The objectof our
affectionreveals our. selves. If the man of force be our hero, we show
ourselves worshippers of power;if a goodman, we prize goodness. Christis
dear to the Fatherbecause He loves us. What a witness to the love of God.

III. OF THE ISSUE OF LAYING DOWN HIS LIFE. Christ is to reap the
reward of His sacrifice, andwe of the travail of His soul.
1. This alone renders His sacrifice lawful or possible, and distinguishes
betweensublimity of sacrifice, andscornful waste of self. The Father's
commandment is not that the Son should perish. The life which is yielded up
for the ends of love is restoredin the triumph of love.
2. This illustrates the true characteroftrust in God — the assurance that He
is righteous to vindicate fidelity and loving to reward it.
3. It is not love for men which is indifferent about sharing with them the joy of
their restoration— this makes any sacrifice an affront. Christ anticipates the
joy of leading many sons to glory.
4. Heaven would lose its value if Christ perished to secure it for us. We should
feel that our salvationhad been too dearly purchased, and the bitter sorrow
that He was absent whose joy it would have been to meet His redeemed.
5. To labour in hope of reward is not always selfish. We need the triumph to
vindicate the suffering.
6. We learn how to sustainourselves in Christian struggle and endurance. "If
we suffer with Him," etc. The sacrifice andresurrection of Christ is a rebuke
to all despondency.
(A. Mackennal, D. D.)

God loving His Son
T. James, M. A.
The assertions ofChrist as to His relation to God are very different from
those of Old Testamentsaints. Not once did they call God Father — this Jesus
always does;and the Father acquiesces."This is My beloved Son." Here
Christ seems to found His Father's love on something He is about to
accomplishon earth. But a strangerhaving rescueda child from drowning
and restoredit to its parent might say, "Therefore doth the Father love me."
And so some infer that Christ was relatedto God only in virtue of His
obedience to death. Notso. God is love; but love cannot exist without an
object, and this objectmust be co-existentwith the eternalaffection. So Christ
is the eternalobject of an eternal love, and the text only states anadditional
reasonfor that love. A king has a beloved son and a revolted province. The
latter he could crush, but prefers to accepta voluntary mission of the former
to win the rebels by privation, forbearance, and kindness. This succeeds. The
king expresses his satisfaction, andthe sonsays, "Therefore doth my father
love me." The idea of the text is similar. What were the elements in Christ's
death which drew forth the love of Christ?
I. PERFECT SPONTANEITYIN THE OBEDIENCE HE RENDERED.Not
that His sufferings or death were in themselves wellpleasing to the merciful
Father. All men die, and by Divine appointment; but God does not love them
for this, else the wickedwould be loved as well as the righteous. It was the
Divine principle that prompted it — obedience. It was not snatched from Him,
nor did He yield it in idle passivity; He laid it down of His active free will, and
so revealedthe Father's will, developed the plan of redemption, and is
therefore the objectof God's intensestlove.
II. FAITH. There would have been no merit in His death had He sacrificed
Himself without assurance ofresurrection. It might have been from despair.
Nor could it have takenplace without this assurance. The extinction of such a

one could not be permitted in the government of a righteous God. Knowing
that He was sinless, He must have known that death, the wages ofsin, had no
powerover Him. Hence He never spoke of His death apart from His
resurrection. The taking up was as much in the Divine plan as the laying
down. He was confident of the successfulissue, and God loved Him because of
this. Conclusion:
1. If God finds a new reasonfor loving His Son in the moral qualities He
displayed, He will love us if we strive to live as Christ lived. WhereverHe sees
men obedient and self-sacrificing He will love them.
2. We should do our duty in spite of con. sequences,orrather with regardto
the remoter consequences. Lay down our lives that we may take them again.
"Whosoeverlosethhis life for My sake shallfind it."
(T. James, M. A.)
The stimulating powerof the consciousnessofbeing loved
S. A. Tipple.
What heat is in nature that love is in the human realm. It tends to quicken and
expand and beautify those on whom it lights; it assists men to be better and
strongerand more gracious than they would otherwise be. Under its influence,
souls are enabled to bud and blossommore freely; and let none of us be
ashamedof needing it, and leaning on it for succour.
(S. A. Tipple.)
The Son's work approved of the Father

J. Brown, D. D.
I. THE GREAT WORK IN WHICH THE SON IS ENGAGED — the
salvationof His sheep—
1. From danger, the curse of the law, eternal death.
2. To obedience, holiness, blessedness, heaven.
II. THE APPOINTMENTOF THE SON TO THIS GREAT WORKBY THE
FATHER. "This commandment." This principle holds a high place in the
Bible. Christ was predicted as the "servant" and "sent" ofGod; gladly
accepts this subordination; and His apostles teachthe same doctrine.
III. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE SON FOR HIS GREAT WORK.
1. To atone for guilt He must be and was free from guilt.
2. To save man He must be and was man, and yet more than man. As man He
had a life to lay down; but He had no poweras man to lay it down of Himself;
this was Divine.
3. This Divine-human life had sufficient merit to expiate the sin of the world.
4. But redemption could not have been consummated without its resumption;
and so He had "powerto take it again."

IV. THE SON'S ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS GREAT WORK. His
offering has been effectualfor the purpose for which it was presented. "There
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." Millions are now through His expiation
"the spirits of just men made perfect," and millions are preparing for that
blessedstate.
V. THE COMPLACENCYMANIFESTED BYTHE FATHER TO THE SON
IN AND FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENTOF HIS GREAT WORK.
(Philippians 2:9-11).
(J. Brown, D. D.)
Christ comforting Himself
S. A. Tipple.
The people were listening with sneers and angerto Christ's asservations ofthe
union betweenHimself and God, and contemplating a step which would
expose their emptiness. When put out of the way, His presumptuous claims
would be shattered. He read this thought, and answeredit calmly, with the
inward consciousness thatthat event would only culminate His voluntary self-
sacrifice, andrender Him the specialobjectof the Father's love. Such is
frequently the blindness and defeat of bad men. It is poor business trying to
hurt a saint. You cannever be certain that your hardest blows will not ensure
him more abundant consolation.
I. CHRIST COMFORTING HIMSELF —
1. With the reflection that someone loves Him. We find Him constantlydoing
this. "I am not alone," etc.;pausing in the midst of hostility, etc., to get
soothing and inspiration. He could not geton without it any more than we

can. Let none of us weaklyand selfishly long for this, nor stoicallydetermine
to be above it; but value it as an impulse for work.
2. With His felt possessionofpower. His adversaries regardedHim as their
victim. He muses, "they are mistaken;instead of being draggedhelplessly, I
shall march in might to die." We need not shrink from the thought that Jesus
found solace in the consciousness ofHis superiority to what He looked:that
while He seemedweak, He was sublimely strong. It is both natural and
legitimate, when we are being estimatedfalsely, to feel the excellence orthe
gift that is not perceived. We may need this in encountering disparagement, to
preserve our self-possessionandkeepourselves from fainting. There are
others, however, who cannever have this consolation. Theirreputation is the
best thing they have; they are meanerthan the socialestimate of them.
II. THE GROUNDS OF THIS COMFORT.
1. The Father loved Christ because He lay down His life in order to take it
again. The beauty of self-sacrificelies not in the act, but in its animating
purpose. There is no necessaryvirtue in denying yourself. Sacrifices are often
made out of mere weakness, regardfor the usages ofsociety, self-indulgence,
even to spite others, and in disregard of the right and the claims of other
people. Christ laid down His life in order to take it again. This explanation is
at first sight disappointing. What was there to charm the heart of God in
surrender for the purpose of recovery? But this recoverywas meant to be a
greatsource and fountain of good, that He might be the first-born among
many brethren. It is noble to sacrifice selfwith a view to acquiring more
capacityfor service.
2. The secretof Christ's powerwas not that He had a right to electto die,
which we have not, but that He felt Himself able to make the sacrifice

required of Him. He did not need to be draggedor urged into it, but was able
to make it freely. What happens there then is in the sense ofthe powerto
respond at once to the call of a difficult, trying duty. But He was certainnot
only that He could bear the Cross, but that He should reap to the full the
anticipated fruit of it. What more blessedthan this — the assurance ofpower
to do what is wholly true, and an assurance ofgaining the object?
3. What was the secretof it all? "This commandment," etc. What God calls
one to, one will have strength to accomplish, and it will assuredly yield its due
fruit. In other things you may break down or be disappointed — never in this.
(S. A. Tipple.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(17) Therefore doth my Fatherlove me . . . For the meaning of this difficult
verse, comp. Notes onJohn 5:17 et seq., and on Philippians 2:8-9. The thought
is that in the relation betweenthe Father and the human nature of Christ, the
reasonof the Father’s love is based upon the self-devotion of the Son. He who
so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son to die for it, loves the
Son who of His ownwill gives Himself to die. It is, if we might presume so to
speak, as though the salvationof mankind had calledforth a new relation of
love betweenthe Father and the Son.
That I might take it again.—This is given as part of the reasonofthe Father’s
love; and the words admit of no other construction. At first sight they seemto

us paradoxical, beyond and againstcommon feeling. In acts of sacrifice, the
fact that that which is lost will be certainly regained, seems to us to take away
all value from the act; but here the fact that Christ will lay down His life, is
statedto be in order that He may take it again;and this is the foundation of
the Father’s love! The key to the meaning is in the truth that for Christ the
taking againof human life is itself a further sacrifice, and that this is
necessaryfor the completionof the GreatShepherd’s work. The scattered
sheepduring the whole of the world’s existence are to be gatheredin by Him
whose continued union with human nature makes Him at once the Shepherd
who gives His life for the sheep, and the Doorby whom we ever have access to
the Father.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
10:10-18 Christ is a goodShepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were
carelessin their duty, and by their neglectthe flock was much hurt. Bad
principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has
chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are
sure of Him. See here the grace ofChrist; since none could demand his life of
him, he laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself to be
the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessityof our case calling for it, he offered
himself for the Sacrifice. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his
laying down his life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that he
died in the place and steadof men; to obtain their being set free from the
punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their sin; and that his death should
obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid not his life down for his doctrine, but for
his sheep.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
I lay down my life - I give myself to die for my people, in Jewishand pagan
lands. I offer myself a sacrifice to show the willingness of my Father to save
them; to provide an atonement, and thus to open the way for their salvation.

This proves that the salvationof man was an objectdear to God, and that it
was a source of specialgratificationto him that his Son was willing to lay
down his life to accomplishhis greatpurposes of benevolence.
That I might take it again - Be raisedup from the dead, and glorified, and still
carry on the work of redemption. See this same sentiment sublimely expressed
in Philippians 2:5-11.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
17. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, &c.—As
the highestact of the Son's love to the Father was the laying down of His life
for the sheepat His "commandment," so the Father's love to Him as His
incarnate Son reaches its consummation, and finds its highest justification, in
that sublimest and most affecting of all acts.
that I might take it again—His resurrection-life being indispensable to the
accomplishmentof the fruit of His death.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Christ here asserts two things.
1. That he was about to lay down his life, and should now very shortly lay it
down; but yet so as he should take it again; that is, rise againfrom the dead;
death should not have dominion over him: by which he comforteth his
disciples concerning his death, declaring,
a) That he was a freewill offering, as he further openeth it in the next verse.
b) That he should not perish in the grave, but rise againfrom the dead.

2. That therefore the Fatherloved him; for:
a) By this means he declaredhimself with power to be the Sonof God, and the
Father could not but love his Son. And:
b) By this means also he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, Philippians 2:8.
So as that the Father had many reasons to love the Son; and amongstothers,
this obedience ofhis to death, even the accurseddeathupon the cross, to fulfil
his Father’s will, for the redemption and salvationof the sons of men, was not
the least:and by this also he commendeth his Father’s love to those that are
his sheep, in that his Father loveth him with the more exceeding love, for
laying down his life, to purchase their redemption and salvation.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Therefore doth my Father love me,.... Christ was the object of his Father's
love from all eternity, and was loved by him on various accounts;first and
chiefly, as his own Son, of the same nature with him, equal to him; and also as
Mediator, engaging for, and on the behalf of his chosenpeople; and likewise
as he was clothedwith their nature, and even in his state of humiliation; and
not only as subject to his ordinances, and obedient to his will, and doing what
was pleasing in his sight, but likewise as suffering in their room and stead, and
he loved him on this account; the bruising of him was a pleasure to him, not
for the sake ofthat itself, but because hereby his counsels anddecrees were
accomplished, his covenantfulfilled, and the salvationof his people obtained:
hence it follows here,
because I lay down my life; that is, for the sheep;to ransom them from sin
and Satan, the law, its curse and condemnation, and from death and hell,

wrath, ruin and destruction: and the laying down his life on this account, was
not only wellpleasing to his Father, but likewise was done, with the following
view; or at leastthis was the event of it,
that I might take it again; as he did, by raising himself from the dead, by
which he was declaredto be the Son of God; and to have made full satisfaction
to divine justice, for the sins of his people, and therefore rose againfor their,
justification; and to be the victorious conquerorover death, having now
abolishedit, and having in his hands the keys of it, the powerover that, and
the grave:and which life he took up again, by his divine power, and as the
surety of his people, to use it for their good;by ascending to his God and
theirs, entering into heaven as their forerunner, appearing in the presence of
God for them, as their advocate, andever living to make intercessionfor
them.
Geneva Study Bible
{5} Therefore doth my Fatherlove me, because {g} I lay down my life, that I
might take it again.
(5) Christ is by the decree of the Father the only true shepherd of the true
Church, for he willingly gave his life for his sheep, and by his own power rose
againto life.
(g) He uses the present tense because Christ's whole life was as it were a
perpetual death.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary

John 10:17-18. Christ’s self-delineationas the GoodShepherd is finished.
Jesus now further bears testimony to that which filled His heart, while setting
forth this greatvocation, which was only to be fulfilled by dying and rising
again, namely, the love of His Father, which rests upon Him just because of
that which He has declared concerning Himself as the goodshepherd.
διὰ τοῦτο … ὅτι] is to be taken as in all the passages where it occurs in John
(John 5:16; John 5:18, John 8:47, John 12:18;John 12:39;1 John 3:1):
therefore—because,namely, διὰ τοῦτο referring to what had preceded, and
ὅτι introducing a more precise explicationof διὰ τοῦτο. The sense
consequentlyis: therefore, because ofthis my relationship as Shepherd, of
which I have spokendown to John 10:16, my Father loves me, because,
namely, I (ἐγώ; no other does so or can do so) lay down my life, in order to
take it again. Note in particular: (1) The explanation ὅτι … μου is
pragmatically correct, becauseit is just the readiness to sacrifice His life
which is the main characteristic ofthe goodshepherd (John 10:11; John
10:15). (2) ἵνα πάλ. λάβω αὐτήνdo not belong to ἀγαπ., but express the
intention or designof τίθ. τ. ψ. μου (not merely its result, as Theodore of
Mopsuestia, Euth. Zigabenus, Grotius, and many suppose; or its condition, as
Calvin, De Wette, and severalothers maintain); for the ground of the love of
God lies not merely in the sacrifice consideredby itself, but in the fact that the
GoodShepherd, when He gives up His life, is resolvedto take it again, in
order that He may continue to fulfil His pastoraloffice till the final goalis
reached, when all mankind shall constitute His flock. Indeed, only on the
condition of His taking His life again, could He fulfil the office of Shepherd
unto the final completioncontemplated in the divine decree, and referred to in
John 10:16. For this reason, also, ἵνα cannot be regarded as introducing the
divine intention (Tholuck), because the ground of the Father’s love must lie in
the volition of Jesus,—whichvolition, it is true, corresponds to the Father’s
will, though this is not here expresslydeclared, but first in John 10:18.

John 10:18. It must be, however, not an unwilling, but a voluntary self-
sacrifice, if it is to form the ground of the love of the Father to Him; hence the
words οὐδεὶς … ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ (mea ipsius sponte). Nor must He proceedto
effectthis voluntary sacrifice of His own authority; but must receive a
warrant thereto, as also for that which He had in view in so doing, viz. the
resumption of His life; hence the words:ἐξουσίαν … λαβεῖν αὐτήν. Nay, more;
even this very thing which He purposed to do, namely, the surrender and
resumption of His life, must have come to Him as a commissionfrom God;
hence the expression:ταύτηντ. ἐντολὴν … πατρός μου, in which ταύτην(this
and not something different) is emphatic, and τὴν ἐντολὴν is correlate to the
idea of ἐξουσία, as this latter is grounded in the divine mandate. Notice
further: (1) The ἐξουσία, the powerconferred (so also in John 19:10 f., not
powergenerally), lies in the relation of subordination to God, of whom the
Son is the commissionedrepresentative, and to whom He submits Himself
voluntarily, i.e. from no compulsion exerted by a poweroutside of Himself,
but with self-determined obedience to the Father (John 14:30 f.; Matthew
26:53). Equality of nature (Olshausen)is the presupposition of this moral
harmony. (2) The view which pervades the New Testament, that Christ did
not raise Himself from the dead, but was raisedby the Father, is not affected
by this passage, inasmuchas the taking againof His life, for which the divine-
human Christ had receivedauthorization, implies the giving againof the life,
to wit, the re-awakening activityof the Father. This giving againon the part
of God, by which Christ becomes ζωοποιηθεὶς πνεύματι (see 1 Peter3:19, and
Huther on the passage), andthat ἐξουσία, which Christ receives from God,
are the two factors of the resurrection—the former being the causa efficiens,
whilst the latter, the ἐξουσία of Christ, is the causa apprehendens. Compare
Constitutiones Apostol. 5. 7. 8 : ἑαυτὸνπροστάγματι τοῦ πατρὸς διὰ τριῶν
ἡμερῶν ἀνεγείρας.—(3)ταύτηντὴνἐντολ. embraces the aforementioned
twofold ἐξουσία;justly so, inasmuch as the authorization to die and to rise
againwas only formally divided according to its two aspects.Chrysostomand
severalothers erroneouslyrefer ταύτηνto the dying alone.
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 10:17. At this point the expositionof the functions of the goodshepherd
terminates; but as a note or appendix Jesus adds διὰ τοῦτο, “onthis account,”

i.e., because I lay down my life for the sheep(John 10:15 and following clause)
does my Fatherlove me. The expressedἐγώ serves to bring out the
spontaneity of the surrender. And this free sacrifice or death is justified by the
object, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν. He dies, not to remain in death and so leave the
sheepdefenceless, but to live again, to resume life in pursuance of the object
for which He had given it. The freedom of the sacrifice is proved by His taking
His life again. He was not compelled to die.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
17. Therefore]Better, On this account, or, Forthis cause (John 12:18;John
12:27). See on John 7:22 and John 8:47, and comp. John 5:16; John 5:18,
John 6:65. The Father’s love for the incarnate Son is intensified by the self-
sacrifice ofthe Son.
that I might take it again] literally, in order that I may take it again. This
clause is closelyconnectedwith the preceding one: ‘that’ depends upon
‘because.’Only because Christ was to take His human life again was His
death such as the Father could have approved. Had the Son returned to
heaven at the Crucifixion leaving His humanity on the Cross, the salvationof
mankind would not have been won, the sentence ofdeath would not have been
reversed, we should be ‘yet in our sins’ (1 Corinthians 15:17). Morever, in
that case He would have ceasedto be the Good Shepherd: He would have
become like the hireling, casting aside his duty before it was completed. The
office of the True Shepherd is not finished until all mankind become His flock;
and this work continues from the Resurrectionto the Day of Judgment.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 10:17. Ἀγαπᾷ) loveth Me, and lovingly enjoins this on Me,—lovinglyas it
were persuades Me, and I, although I must lay down My life, remain sure of
His love; for I lay it down, that I may take it up again:moreover the Father,
in love to Me, gives Me the sheepas my peculiar portion; because I keepHis
commandment concerning the laying down of My life; John 10:18, “No man
taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have powerto lay it down,

and I have powerto take it again. This commandment have I receivedof My
Father.” Love is intimated as coming over and above [supervenient. Coming
as an extraneous addition]. The love of the Fatheris to be kept in sight, in the
passionof Christ, not only towards us, but also towards Christ: we are not to
look merely to His avenging severity [stern justice].
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 17. - Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I may take it again. The διὰ τοῦτο points to the whole of the previous
statement, and ὅτι to a more complete exposition of the precise point in it on
which the Divine Father's love (ἀγαπή) rests. The "I" and "me" refer to the
incarnate Son, i.e. to the Divine-human Personalityof the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Fatherloveth me, because, notmerely that I lay down my life, for such
might be the consequence ofhelplessnessin the presence ofvictorious and
desperate foes. The love which merely "laid down life" would be a Buddha-
like self-sacrifice, producing certain moral effects upon the minds of the
onlookers,and revealing a large and loving sense ofthe need of others. Yet in
such expressionof his sacrificiallove he would have relinquished his
undertaking. There would have been no more that he could do for his flock,
this Shepherd-functions would, in the consummating act, cease,he would be a
beautiful Memory, not a living Energy; a glorious Example, not the Author of
eternal salvation. He would ceaseto be the greatShepherd of the sheep. Now
the Father's love contemplated more than this, viz. the Lord's own purpose to
take up again that life which he was prepared voluntarily to lay down for the
sheep. Thus he would indeed die, that he might be more of a Shepherd to them
than he had ever been before. How otherwise would he personally bring the
other sheepinto his flock, or be known of them, as the Fatherwas known by
him? Christ declares thatafter his death he would still exercise royalrights,
be as much a Divine-human Personalityas ever. Christ, as a sinless Man, the
sinless One, might indeed, after the victory over the tempter in the wilderness,
or from the Mount of Transfiguration, have returned to the spiritual world
without accomplishing an exodus on Golgotha, but he chose, he willed, to lay
down his life. Having done this much, he might have joined the great
majority, and been their Head and Chief, and left his work to be commented
on by others. But such a consummation would have fallen far short of the true

and sufficing objectof the Father's love. Christ declares that the very end of
his death was his resurrectionfrom death. In retaking his life, he is able to
continue, on perfectly different terms, the shepherding of his people he
becomes in the highest sense, the greatShepherd, the goodShepherd, the
archetypal, and the veritable Shepherd of the flock of God.
VERSE 18 COMMENTARY
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(18) No man taketh it from me.—It is better to leave the words in the greater
width of the Greek, No one taketh it from Me, for it may be, indeed, that even
the Fatheris included in the thought. The laying down of the life is absolutely
self-determined, and therefore it is the reasonofthe Father’s love. Up to the
very last moments of life He lays stress on the perfectly voluntary nature of
His death. “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into
Thy hands I commend My spirit; and having said thus, He gave up the ghost.”
(See Note on Luke 23:46.)
I have powerto lay it down, and I have powerto take it again.—The words
apply also to the human nature of our Lord, and the “power” spokenofis the
authority derived from the Father. It is of His own will that He lays down His
life and takes it again;but this, as the whole of the life of the Son, is in moral
subordination to the Father. (Comp. Notes on John 5:19; John 19:10.)Hence
it is that He speaksoftaking His life again, while the generallanguage ofthe
New Testamentspeaks ofHis being raised by the Father. The taking again
was under the Father’s authority, and was therefore itself the Father’s gift.
(Comp. Note on 1Peter3:19.)
This commandment have I receivedof my Father.—Better, did I receive;
pointing, probably, to the commissionat the time of the Incarnation. He has
assertedin fullest terms the entirely voluntary nature of His one sacrifice. He

repeats in fullest terms the voluntary subordination of Son to Father, which is
basedupon equality of nature. Not only was the authority by which He would
die and rise againderived from the Father, but both these acts were included
in the decree which gave to Him the Messianic work. We should be on our
guard againstthe mistake which is often made of understanding this
commandment of the laying down the life only; it clearlyextends also to the
taking it again.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
10:10-18 Christ is a goodShepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were
carelessin their duty, and by their neglectthe flock was much hurt. Bad
principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has
chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are
sure of Him. See here the grace ofChrist; since none could demand his life of
him, he laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself to be
the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessityof our case calling for it, he offered
himself for the Sacrifice. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his
laying down his life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that he
died in the place and steadof men; to obtain their being set free from the
punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their sin; and that his death should
obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid not his life down for his doctrine, but for
his sheep.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
No man taketh it from me - That is, no one could take it by force, or unless I
was willing to yield myself into his hands. He had powerto preserve his life, as
he showedby so often escaping from the Pharisees;he voluntarily went up to
Jerusalem, knowing that he would die; he knew the approachof Judas to
betray him; and he expresslytold Pilate at his bar that he could have no
powerat all againsthim exceptit were given him by his Father, John 19:11.
Jesus had a right to lay down his life for the goodof people. The patriot dies

for his country on the field of battle; the merchant exposes his life for gain;
and the Son of God had a right to put himself in the wayof dangerand of
death, when a dying world needed such an atoning sacrifice. This shows the
speciallove of Jesus. His death was voluntary. His coming was voluntary - the
fruit of love. His death was the fruit of love. He was permitted to choose the
time and mode of his death. He did. He chose the most painful, lingering,
ignominious manner of death then knownto man, and thus showedhis love.
I have power- This word often means authority. It includes all necessary
powerin the case, and the commissionor authority of his Fatherto do it.
Powerto take it again - This shows that he was divine. A dead man has no
powerto raise himself from the grave. And as Jesus had this powerafter he
was deceased, it proves that there was some other nature than that which had
expired, to which the term "I" might be still applied. None but God can raise
the dead; and as Jesus had this powerover his ownbody it proves that he was
divine.
This commandment - My Father has appointed this, and commissionedme to
do it.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
18. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself: I have power to lay it
down, and I have powerto 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 owndeath. It is beyond all doubt the language ofOne
who was consciousthat 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 "powerto take it again" is no less
important, as showing that His resurrection, though ascribedto the Father, in

the sense we shallpresently see, was neverthelessHis own assertionof His own
right to life as soonas the purposes of His voluntary death were accomplished.
This commandment—to "lay down His—life, that He might take it again."
have I receivedof 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 necessityof Christ's death,
in the light of these profound sayings, must be manifest to all but the
superficial student.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
No man taketh it from me by force, without my willing it and consenting to it;
the Jews andPilate will take it from me, but not without my free and
voluntary surrender of it: and this is that which we read, Acts 4:27,28, Forof
a truth againstthy holy child Jesus, whomthou hast anointed, both Herod,
and Pontius Plate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered
together, for to do whatsoeverthy hand and thy counseldetermined before to
be done. By which he asserts his Divine power, and so comforteth his disciples
againstthe disturbances they were like to have from the sight of his passion, at
this time not many months off. And this, saith he, is the will of my Father, that
which my Father hath given me commissionto do, and for which he hath sent
me into the world: and thus he declarethhis death to be a fulfilling of his
Father’s purpose, and an actof obedience to his Father’s will; and indeed, in
his obedience in the thing lay much of the virtue of his death.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
No man taketh it from me,.... It was indeed taken awayat the instigationof
the Jews, andby the order of Pilate, and by means of the Roman soldiers, who
crucified him; and the former of these are often chargedwith slaying him, and
killing him, the Prince of life; and it is expresslysaid, "his life is taken from
the earth", Acts 8:33; and yet no man could, nor did take it away, without his

Father's will, and determinate counseland knowledge, by which he was
delivered up into the hands of the above persons, and by which they did to
him what they did, or otherwise they could have had no power over him; nor
could any man, nor did any man, take awayhis life from him, without his own
consent;he voluntarily surrendered himself, or he could never have been
taken; he went freely to the cross, orhe could never have been led there; he
suffered himself to be nailed to the accursedtree, and when he hung on it, he
could easily have disengagedhimself, and come down; and when they had him
there, they could not have takenawayhis life, had he not of himself given up
the ghost, and breathed out his life and soul:
but I lay it down of myself; of my own will, or of my ownaccord, as the
Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render it; which was done with the
greatestpatience and meekness, resolution, courageand magnanimity; and
with a full will, and with the greatestcheerfulness andalacrity; and that as a
ransom for his people, and that they might live through him:
I have powerto lay it down; this was not his life as God, but as man; and was
so his own, as it was not his Father's, and was entirely at his own dispose;for
it was the life of that individual human nature, which was united to his divine
person; and so in a sense his, as it was not either the Father's or the Spirit's;
and was so his own, as ours are not, which are from God, and dependent on
him, and entirely to be disposedof by him, and not by ourselves:but Christ,
the Prince of life, had a power of laying down his life of his ownaccord, as a
ransom price for his sheep:
and I have powerto take it again; as he was the Son of God, and truly God,
and as the surety of his people; having satisfiedlaw and justice, by his
obedience, sufferings, and death, and for the ends mentioned in note; see Gill
on John 10:17,

this commandment have I receivedof my Father; which may respectboth
branches of his power, but is not the foundation of it, but the reasonof is
exercising it; because it was so agreeable to his Father's will, which is the same
with his own, as he is the Son of God, and one with his Father, and equal to
him; and what he delights in as Mediator, in which capacityhe is considered
as a servant; and in which he cheerfully became obedient, even unto death, to
his Father's command, or in compliance with his will: the Syriac, Arabic, and
Persic versions read, "because this commandment have I receivedof my
Father":this is a reasonwhy he so readily exerted his power, both in laying
down his life, and taking it again, because it was his Father's command and
will, and which he receivedfrom him, with the utmost pleasure;his and his
Father's love, goodwill, gracious ends and views towards the elect, herein
being the same.
Geneva Study Bible
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have powerto take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 10:18. οὐδεὶς … ἐμαυτοῦ. He did not succumb to the machinations of His
foes. To the last He was free to choose anotherexit from life; Matthew 26:53.
He gave His life freely, perceiving that this was the Father’s will: ἐξουσίαν …
μου. Others have only powerto choose the time or method of their death, and
not always that: Jesus had power absolutelyto lay down His life or to retain it.
Others have no power at all to resume their life after they had laid it down. He
has. This freedom, as Weiss remarks, does not clashwith the instrumentality
of the Jews in taking His life, nor with the powerof God in raising Him
again.—ταύτηντὴνἐντολὴν. “This commandment” thus to dispose of His life
and to resume it He has receivedfrom the Father. In this as in all else He is
fulfilling the will and purpose of God.

Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
18. No man taketh it from me] Better, No one taketh it from Me; not even
God. See on John 10:28. Two points are insistedon; (1) that the Deathis
entirely voluntary; (2) that both Deathand Resurrectionare in accordance
with a commissionreceivedfrom the Father. Comp. ‘Father, into Thy hands I
commend My spirit’ (Luke 23:46). The precise words used by the two
Apostles of Christ’s death bring this out very clearly; ‘yielded up (literally ‘let
go’) the ghost’ (Matthew 27:50); ‘gave up the ghost’ (John 19:30;see note
there). The word used by S. Mark and S. Luke (‘breathed His last,’ or
‘expired’) is less strong. Here there is an emphasis on the pronoun; ‘but I lay
it down of Myself.’
I have power] i.e. right, authority, liberty: same word as in John 1:12, John
5:27, John 17:2, John 19:10. This authority is the commandment of the
Father: and hence this passagein no way contradicts the usual N.T. doctrine
that Christ was raised to life again by the Father. Acts 2:24.
This commandment have I received]Better, This commandment receivedI,
viz., at the Incarnation: the commandment to die and rise again. Comp. John
4:34, John 5:30, John 6:38.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 10:18. Οὐδείς, no man) Comp. John 10:29, “No man is able to pluck—
out of My Father’s hand.”—αἴρει, takethaway)by His own powerand will.—
ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ, fromMyself) Jesus of His own accordgave Himself up to His
enemies to be taken;and on the cross itself, not from any feebleness, but with
a loud cry, He gave up the ghost.—καί, and) A most close connectionsubsists
betweenthe two things [laying down His life, and taking it up again] (Comp.
the that, John 10:17, I lay [it] down, that I might take it again), over which He
possesses a twofoldpower.—ἐξουσίανἔχω, I have power)So ἔχωσι, that they
might have [life], is repeated, John 10:10. Add ch. John 19:10 [Pilate], “I have

powerto crucify Thee, and have powerto release Thee.”—παρὰτοῦ Πατρός
μου, from My Father)He ascribes His highestpower to the Father.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 18. - No one taketh it awayfrom me, but I lay it down of myself. Should
the aoristbe the true reading, then the whole of the Incarnation must have
been regardedby the Lord as already accomplished, as a completed fact. The
οὐδεὶς, "no one" neither God, nor man, nor evil spirit - takethit, i.e. my life,
awayfrom me, from myself, in the exercise ofmy sovereignwill, in the full
consciousnessofspontaneity. I am laying it down, not in consequence ofmy
impotence before the powers of darkness, but "from myself." This proceeding
is in perfect harmony with the will of God the Father; but it is Christ's free
act notwithstanding, and of all things the most worthy of the Father's love (cf.
here John 5:30, which appears at first to be in contradictionwith the
statementof this verse; but the closing words of the verse rectify the
impression; see also John7:28; John 8:28). Christ justifies his extraordinary
claim to lay down and after his death (retaining then the full possessionofhis
Personality), to reassume the life which for a while, in submissionto the doom
on human nature, he had resolved to sacrifice, he says, I have (ἐξουσίαν) right
- or, powerand authority combined - to lay it down, and right to take it again.
This commandment receivedI from my Father. I have powerto do both these
things. No other has ever put forth such a claim, and the discharge of it "from
himself," i.e. spontaneously, is statedto be in consequence ofan ἐντολή, an
appoint-merit, an ordinance, he had receivedfrom the Father. The Divine
purpose was realized in his perfect freedom and his perfect and absolute
fulfillment of the Father's will. The narrative of the agonyin the garden, given
by the synoptists, confirms the blending of his own freedom with the Divine
order; but the language ofthis Gospel(John 18:6 (cf. Matthew 26:53), and
Matthew 19:11), and the best researches into what is called "the physical
cause ofthe death of Christ" (see Dr. Stroud's valuable work on that subject),
all confirm the voluntary nature of our Lord's suffering and death. "To cover
this incomparable privilege with a veil of humility, he thought good to callit a
command. The Father's mandate was, Thou shalt die or not die, thou shalt
rise againor not rise again, according to the free promptings of thy love"
(Godet). It was, however, the Father's appointment that Christ should freely

exercise this stupendous consequenceofhis perfectobedience. So that all the
assurancesthat God raisedhim from the dead are confirmed by the mode in
which he speaks ofhis Divine right.
Vincent's Word Studies
Takethaway(αἴρει)
Some texts read ἤρεν, took away. According to this reading the word would
point back to the work of Jesus as conceivedand accomplishedin the eternal
counselof God, where His sacrifice ofHimself was not exacted, but was His
own spontaneous offering in harmony with the Father's will.
I lay it down of myself
Wyc., I put it from myself.
Power(ἐξουσίαν)
Rev., in margin, right. See on John 1:12.
Commandment (ἐντολὴν)
See on James 2:8.

PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
WILLIAM BARCLAY
LOVE'S CHOICE (John 10:17-18)
10:17-18 "The reasonwhy my Father loves me is that I lay down my life that I
may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own free
will. I have full authority to lay it down, and I have full authority to take it
again. I have receivedthis injunction from my Father."
Few passagesin the New Testamenttell us so much about Jesus in so short a
compass.
(i) It tells us that Jesus saw his whole life as an actof obedience to God. God
had given him a task to do, and he was prepared to carry it out to the end,
even if it meant death. He was in a unique relationship to God which we can
describe only by saying that he was the Son of God. But that relationship did
not give him the right to do what he liked; it depended on his doing always,
costwhat it may, what God liked. Sonship for him, and sonship for us, could
never be basedon anything exceptobedience.
(ii) It tells us that Jesus always saw the Cross and the glory together. He never
doubted that he must die; and equally he never doubted that he would rise
again. The reasonwas his confidence in God; he was sure that Godwould
never abandon him. All life is based on the fact that anything worth getting is
hard to get. There is always a price to be paid. Scholarshipcan be bought only
at the price of study; skill in any craft or technique can be bought only at the
price of practice; eminence in any sport can be bought only at the price of

training and discipline. The world is full of people who have missed their
destiny because they would not pay the price. No one can take the easyway
and enter into glory or greatness;no one can take the hard way and fail to
find these things.
(iii) It tells us in a way that we cannot possibly mistake that Jesus'deathwas
entirely voluntary. Jesus stressesthis againand again. In the gardenhe bade
his would-be defender put up his sword. If he had wished, he could have
calledin the hosts of heavento his defence (Matthew 26:53). He made it quite
clearthat Pilate was not condemning him, but that he was accepting death
(John 19:10-11). He was not the victim of circumstance. He was not like some
animal, draggedunwillingly and without understanding to the sacrifice. Jesus
laid down his life because he chose to do so.
It is told that in the First World War there was a young Frenchsoldier who
was seriouslywounded. His arm was so badly smashedthat it had to be
amputated. He was a magnificent specimenof young manhood, and the
surgeonwas grieved that he must go through life maimed. So he waited beside
his bedside to tell him the bad news when he recoveredconsciousness. When
the lad's eyes opened, the surgeonsaid to him: "I am sorry to tell you that you
have lost your arm." "Sir," saidthe lad, "I did not lose it; I gave it--for
France."
Jesus was not helplessly caught up in a mesh of circumstances from which he
could not break free. Apart from any divine power he might have called in, it
is quite clearthat to the end he could have turned back and savedhis life. He
did not lose his life: he gave it. The Cross was not thrust upon him: he
willingly acceptedit-for us.

ALBERT BARNES
Verse 17
I lay down my life - I give myself to die for my people, in Jewishand pagan
lands. I offer myself a sacrifice to show the willingness of my Father to save
them; to provide an atonement, and thus to open the way for their salvation.
This proves that the salvationof man was an objectdear to God, and that it
was a source of specialgratificationto him that his Son was willing to lay
down his life to accomplishhis greatpurposes of benevolence.
That I might take it again - Be raisedup from the dead, and glorified, and still
carry on the work of redemption. See this same sentiment sublimely expressed
in Philemon 2:5-11.
Verse 18
No man taketh it from me - That is, no one could take it by force, or unless I
was willing to yield myself into his hands. He had powerto preserve his life, as
he showedby so often escaping from the Pharisees;he voluntarily went up to
Jerusalem, knowing that he would die; he knew the approachof Judas to
betray him; and he expresslytold Pilate at his bar that he could have no
powerat all againsthim exceptit were given him by his Father, John 19:11.
Jesus had a right to lay down his life for the goodof people. The patriot dies
for his country on the field of battle; the merchant exposes his life for gain;
and the Son of God had a right to put himself in the wayof dangerand of
death, when a dying world needed such an atoning sacrifice. This shows the
speciallove of Jesus. His death was voluntary. His coming was voluntary - the
fruit of love. His death was the fruit of love. He was permitted to choose the
time and mode of his death. He did. He chose the most painful, lingering,
ignominious manner of death then knownto man, and thus showedhis love.

I have power- This word often means authority. It includes all necessary
powerin the case, and the commissionor authority of his Fatherto do it.
Powerto take it again - This shows that he was divine. A dead man has no
powerto raise himself from the grave. And as Jesus had this powerafter he
was deceased, it proves that there was some other nature than that which had
expired, to which the term “I” might be still applied. None but God can raise
the dead; and as Jesus had this powerover his ownbody it proves that he was
divine.
This commandment - My Father has appointed this, and commissionedme to
do it.
CALVIN
Verse 17
17.Onthis accountthe Father loveth me. There is, indeed, another and a
higher reasonwhy the Fatherloveth the Son; for it was not in vain that a
voice was heard from heaven,
This is my beloved Son, in whom the good-pleasure ofGod dwells,
(Matthew 3:17.)
But as he was made man on our account, and as the Fatherdelighted in him,
in order that he might reconcile us to himself, we need not wonder if he
declares it to be the reasonwhythe Fatherloveth him, that our salvationis

dearer to him than his own life. This is a wonderful commendation of the
goodness ofGodto us, and ought justly to arouse our whole souls into
rapturous admiration, that not only does Godextend to us the love which is
due to the only-begottenSon, but he refers it to us as the final cause. And
indeed there was no necessitythat Christ should take upon him our flesh, in
which he was beloved, but that it might be the pledge of the mercy of his
Father in redeeming us.
That I may take it again. As the disciples might be deeply grieved on account
of what they had heard about the death of Christ, and as their faith might
even be greatly shaken, he comforts them by the hope of his resurrection,
which would speedily take place;as if he said, that he would not die on the
condition of being swallowedup by death, but in order that he might soonrise
againas a conqueror. And even at the presentday, we ought to contemplate
the death of Christ, so as to remember, at the same time, the glory of his
resurrection. Thus, we know that he is life, because, in his contestwith death,
he obtained a splendid victory, and achieveda noble triumph.
Verse 18
18.No man takethit from me. This is another consolation, by which the
disciples may take courage as to the death of Christ, that he does not die by
constraint, but offers himself willingly for the salvationof his flock. Not only
does he affirm that men have no powerto put him to death, except so far as he
permits them, but he declares that he is free from every violence of necessity.
It is otherwise with us, for we are laid under a necessityof dying on accountof
our sins. True, Christ himself was born a mortal man; but this was a
voluntary submission, and not a bondage laid upon him by another. Christ
intended, therefore, to fortify his disciples, that, when they saw him shortly
afterwards draggedto death, they might not be dismayed, as if he had been
oppressedby enemies, but might acknowledgethat it was done by the
wonderful Providence of God, that he should die for the redemption of his
flock. And this doctrine is of perpetual advantage, that the death of Christ is

an expiation for our sins, because it was a voluntary sacrifice, according to the
saying of Paul,
By the obedience of one many were made righteous,
(Romans 5:19.)
But I lay it down of myself. These words may be explained in two ways; either
that Christ divests himself of life, but still remains what he was, just as a
person would lay aside a garment from his body, or, that he dies by his own
choice.
This commandment have I receivedfrom my Father. He recalls our attention
to the eternalpurpose of the Father, in order to inform us that He had such
care about our salvation, that he dedicatedto us his only-begottenSon great
and excellentas he is; (296)and Christ himself, who came into the world to be
in all respects obedientto the Father, confirms the statement, that he has no
other object in view than to promote our benefit.
TOM CONSTABLE
Verse 17
Having declaredthe intimate knowledge thatthe Fatherand the Sonshare,
Jesus now explained why the Father loved Him as He did. Jesus did not mean
that the Father"s love resulted from the Son"s performance. It would still
have existed if Jesus had failed to obey Him completely. The Father loved the
Son unconditionally from the beginning. Howeverthe Son"s full obedience to
the Father"s will resulted in the Father having a speciallove for the Son that

obedience under testing produced. Similarly God loves all believers
unconditionally, but when we obey Him we enjoy an intimacy with Him that
only obedience produces (cf. John 15:14).
Jesus died sacrificiallywith His resurrectionand glorificationin view. He did
not die thinking that He would remain dead. His death was an event in a
largerchain of events that was always in view as Jesus anticipatedthe Cross.
Verse 18
Superficially observers could have concluded that Jesus died because the Jews
conspiredagainstHim. However, Jesus revealedthat behind that
instrumental cause was the efficient cause ofGod"s purpose (cf. Acts 4:27-28).
God had given Jesus the authority to offer Himself as a sacrifice for
humankind"s sins and to rise from the dead. Neverthelessthe Son remained
submissive to the Fatherin the triune hierarchy. Jesus willingly offered
Himself; no human took His life from Him. However, He offered Himself in
obedience to the Father"s will. Anyone can lay his or her life down in death
sacrificially, but only Jesus could lay it down and then take it again in
resurrection.
MARCUS DODS
Verse 17
John 10:17. At this point the expositionof the functions of the goodshepherd
terminates; but as a note or appendix Jesus adds διὰ τοῦτο, “onthis account,”
i.e., because I lay down my life for the sheep(John 10:15 and following clause)
does my Fatherlove me. The expressedἐγώ serves to bring out the
spontaneity of the surrender. And this free sacrifice or death is justified by the

object, ἵνα πάλιν λάβω αὐτήν. He dies, not to remain in death and so leave the
sheepdefenceless, but to live again, to resume life in pursuance of the object
for which He had given it. The freedom of the sacrifice is proved by His taking
His life again. He was not compelled to die.
Verse 18
John 10:18. οὐδεὶς … ἐμαυτοῦ. He did not succumb to the machinations of His
foes. To the last He was free to choose anotherexit from life; Matthew 26:53.
He gave His life freely, perceiving that this was the Father’s will: ἐξουσίαν …
μου. Others have only powerto choose the time or method of their death, and
not always that: Jesus had power absolutelyto lay down His life or to retain it.
Others have no power at all to resume their life after they had laid it down. He
has. This freedom, as Weiss remarks, does not clashwith the instrumentality
of the Jews in taking His life, nor with the powerof God in raising Him
again.— ταύτηντὴν ἐντολὴν. “This commandment” thus to dispose of His life
and to resume it He has receivedfrom the Father. In this as in all else He is
fulfilling the will and purpose of God.
DAVE GUZIK
(17-18)Jesus claims to have powerover life and death.
“Therefore MyFather loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it
again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have powerto
lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received
from My Father.”

a. Therefore My Fatherloves Me:God the Fathersaw the beauty of character
and self-sacrificein God the Son, and He loved the Son all the more because of
it.
b. That I may take it again… I have powerto take it again: In this sense, we
can saythat Jesus “raisedHimself” from the dead. He had the powerto lay
down His life, and He had the powerto take it up again.
i. “Whenany ordinary man dies he only pays ‘the debt of nature.’ If he were
even to die for his friend, he would simply pay a little earlierthat debt which
he must pay ultimately, but the Christ was immortal, and he needed not to die
exceptthat he had put himself under covenant bonds to suffer for his sheep.”
(Spurgeon)
ii. Anyone canlay down his life; only Jesus could take His life up again.
BecauseJesus has the power to take up His own life, it is evidence of His
unique relationship with His Father.
iii. It doesn’t surprise us that the Watchtower(the Jehovah’s Witnesses)deny
that Jesus couldtake His own life up again. Yet some others (such as modern
faith movement teachers Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Fred Price, and
others) teachthat Jesus sufferedas a victim in hell, and was savedonly by the
intervention of God the Father – that Jesus did not have powerto take it
again.
c. This command I have receivedfrom My Father: The death of Jesus was
completely voluntary, but it was not an indirect suicide in any sense. It was
part of a plan to submit to death and then to emerge from it victoriously alive,
according to the command… received from God the Father.

The Father’s Love for the Redeeming God-Man
John 10:17-18
Dr. S. Lewis Johnsoncomments on Christ's description of his own work of
atonement.
SLJ Institute > Gospelof John > The Father’s Love for the Redeeming God-
Man
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[Message]Forthe Scripture reading we’re turning to John chapter10 again,
and the message this morning is going to be John chapter 10 verse 17 and
verse 18, but I’d like to read from verse 11 through verse 21 for our Scripture
reading. In verse 11 the Lord Jesus in giving his marvelous little discourse on
the goodshepherd and the sheep says,

“I am the goodshepherd: the goodshepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But
he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheepare not,
seeththe wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereththe sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling,
and carethnot for the sheep. I am the goodshepherd, and know my sheep,
and am known of mine. As the Father knowethme, and I know the Father:
and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheepI have, which are not of
this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;and there shall
be one flock, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I
lay down my life, that I might take it again. 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. This commandment have I receivedof my Father. There was a division
therefore again among the Jews forthese sayings. And many of them said, He
hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the
words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?”
May the Lord bless this reading of his inspired word.
[prayer removed from audio]
[Message]The subjectfor this morning is somewhatdifferent from that listed
in the bulletin, “The Father’s Love for the Redeeming God-Man.” I’ve taken
the liberty of changing the subject since we announcedthe titles to the church
secretary. She was here at 8:30. I didn’t mention it then, but I mention it now.
It is “The Father’s Love for the Redeeming God-Man” but it is the same
Scripture passage.The beautiful series of parables regarding the good
shepherd and his ministry to the sheepdraws to a close with the texts that we
read this morning in our Scripture reading. They are important for the
teaching of the New Testamentregarding the atonement. You notice for
example, in verse 11 the Lord Jesus says, “Iam the goodshepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” And then in verse 15 he says, “As the

Father knowethme and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep.” And then in verse 17, “Therefore dothmy Father love me because I
lay down my life that I might take it again.” And then in verse 18 for the
fourth time, the Lord Jesus says, “No mantaketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself.”
When we think about the word atonement we are inclined to think of the
things that the Lord Jesus has accomplishedon his death on the cross.
Atonement suggeststhat. The very word atonement is a combination of the
little English word “at” plus an old middle English word, “onement” which
means something like union. And so atonement has to do with that which
brings people togetherin union, and in theologianatonement expressesthe
things that Jesus Christ has done in his death. It’s not really a New Testament
word. It’s primarily an Old Testamentword so far as the use in Scripture is
concerned. But theologians have broadened it since to speak of all of the
things that the Lord Jesus has done in his saving work. So the Doctrine of the
Atonement has to do with what Christ has done to bring sinners and a holy
God into union. Atonement, it’s the Father’s provision and the Son’s
accomplishmentof that which brings us into right relationship with God.
Now we pointed out in one of the previous messagesthat when the Lord says,
“I lay down my life for the sheep,” that he expressessome important words
concerning atonement. For example, it’s clearthat the atoning work of Christ
is voluntary and self moved. The Lord Jesus was not forcedor compelledto
give out his life. He says, “The goodshepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” It
is voluntary. He also says that it is vicarious or substitutionary. “He gives his
life for the sheep.” And he says finally that it is a satisfaction. Itis
propitiatory. It is his life that he gives. That was required. A holy God
demands that sin be punished. The Lord Jesus has given his life, the infinitely
valuable life in order that that atonement might be accomplished, that the
holiness and justice of Godmight be satisfied, the law honored and vindicated,
and sinners savedby death of the Son.

Now of course when we think about the atonementand think about the
substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus it’s clearthat that work is a particular
work. In fact every text in the Bible that says Jesus died as a substitute teaches
the particular intent of the atonement of the Lord Jesus. It teaches that he did
pay the penalty for certainindividuals, and that penalty was totally paid for
and being totally paid for heaven canbring no further charge againstthose
for whom Christ died. So every text in the Bible that teaches substitution is a
text that teaches the particularity of the atoning intent of the Lord Jesus.
Sometimes people come and say, “Where in the Bible does it teach that Jesus
Christ died for the sheep?” Well, ofcourse there are texts of Scripture that
state that, but every text in the Bible that says he died instead of individuals
dying teaches the particularity of the atonementof Christ. His atonement is
directed toward a particular group of people, the sheepof God, and the people
of God.
Now furthermore he says here he died for his sheep. Now just for a moment,
we know the Bible says that Christ came loving the world. We know that in
the Epistle to the Hebrews it says that he tasted death for everyone. But here
it says he died for the sheep. There are many plausible reasons whichmay be
assignedwhy on the supposition of a definite atonement directed towarda
certain group of people, that universal terms should be used. Forexample, the
redemption of the Lord Jesus is suited for everyone. There is no one who is
not a suitable objectof the atoning work of the Lord Jesus.
Furthermore the blood that was shed is sufficient for the sins of all in value.
Everyone who pleads the atonement of Christ will find that atonement
sufficient. It is sufficient for the sins of the world. Furthermore it is offered to
all. Everyone is invited to partake of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus. We
read also that the electare chosenout of every family, tribe and nation under

heaven. And so it is universal in that respect. We know too from history that
from successive generations as the human race has progressedthrough the
centuries saving work of God has takenplace. And we know also that
ultimately the whole earth shall experience the benefits of the Lord Jesus
Christ and it’s fair to saythat the world will be saved ultimately through the
saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it’s reasonable that here and there
through Scripture we should have these universal expressions to express those
facts.
But now on the assumption that the Bible should teachthat he died with the
intent of saving everyone, expressions like, “The shepherd died for the sheep,”
or “The shepherd died for the church,” or “The shepherd died for me” can
hardly be explained. In other words, if we assume the definite atonement of
Christ, we understand why universal terms might be expressedhere and there
to express those ideas I’ve just mentioned. But if it’s true that he died for
everybody why should he eversay he died for the sheep or he died for the
church? Of course he died for the sheep. He died for everybody. Of course he
died for the church. He died for everybody. Of course he died for me. He died
for everybody. So there is no point in using limited expressions if he died for
all, but there is a point in using universal expressions if he died for a certain
group in order to express certain benefits of Christ that are universal. So
when we put all this togetherit’s easyto see why the Lord Jesus said, “I’m the
goodshepherd. I give my life for the sheep.” Benefits pertain to the world. The
invitation is given to all. It’s sufficient to coverthe sins of the world in value,
but his work is directed toward his sheep. How wonderful to be one of the
sheep. How wonderful to be one of the sheep. How easyit is to become one of
the sheep. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and Thou shalt be saved. And of
course if we don’t want to become one of the sheep, then we have no
complaint againstthe particularity of the intent of the saving work of Christ.
Now I think that it’s plain just from this that if the Lord Jesus has laid down
his life for the sheep, all is well. The dying and living shepherd is the safety

and glory of the flock, and don’t you notice here how the Lord Jesus rejoices
in his work. He’s not ashamedof the fact that he dies for the sheep. Lost sheep
are the object of his work. It’s almost, since he repeats it four times, he “lays
down his life,” it’s almost, as Mr. Spurgeonsays, “Thathe rolls this under his
tongue as if it were a sweetmorsel.” “Ilay down my life for the sheep.” “I lay
down my life.” “I lay down my life.” He’s not ashamedof the fact that he dies
for those sheep.
This passagealso stressesofcourse the mutual relationship in knowledge that
exists betweenthe Son, the Fatherand the sheep. Verse 14 and verse 15, we
spoke on this a couple of weeks ago,he knows us as the Father knows him. “I
am the goodshepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knowethme.” He knows us as the Father knows him. Why the Father
knows him perfectly of course. He knows us perfectly. He knows our number.
He knows our fears. He knows our frights. He knows our needs. He knows our
perplexities. He knows our troubles. He knows our tragedies. He knows us as
the Fatherknows him. But further he says, “As the Fatherknoweth me and I
know the Fatherand I lay down my life for the sheep.” So, he says that he
knows his sheepand he is knownof his, “As the Father knows him and as he
knows the Father.” So he knows us as the Father knows him and he says that
we know him as he knows the Father.
Well now of course he knows the Father in the infinite sense. So surely he’s
not talking about something that is quantitative. He’s talking about a
qualitative kind of knowledge, the same kind of knowledge that the Sonhas of
the Father, the knowledge ofdelight, the knowledge ofsympathy, the
knowledge oftrust as the God-man, so we have as well. He knows us as the
Father knows him and we know him as he knows the Father. We sheep, we
know our shepherd. We know his voice. We know that he is our only hope.
We know that in the experiences oflife we may turn only to him and expect
the divine Triune God to undertake for us.

Jesus was to die and rise again by his own will

Jesus was to die and rise again by his own will

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