Charles Ellicott Commentary John 10:18

"No one taketh it away 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 received I from my Father." — John 10:18 (ASV)

No man takes it from Me.—It is better to leave the words in the greater width of the Greek, No one takes it from Me, for it may be, indeed, that even the Father is included in the thought. The laying down of His life is absolutely self-determined, and therefore it is the reason for the Father’s love. Up to the very last moments of His 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 Your hands I commend My spirit; and having said this, He gave up the ghost (See Note on Luke 23:46).

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.—The words also apply to the human nature of our Lord, and the “power” spoken of is the authority derived from the Father. It is of His own will that He lays down His life and takes it again; but this, like the whole life of the Son, is in moral subordination to the Father (Compare Notes on John 5:19; John 19:10). Hence, He speaks of taking His life again, while the general language of the New Testament speaks of His being raised by the Father. The taking it again was under the Father’s authority and was therefore itself the Father’s gift (Compare Note on 1 Peter 3:19).

This commandment I have received from My Father.—Better, did I receive; pointing, probably, to the commission at the time of the Incarnation. He has asserted in the fullest terms the entirely voluntary nature of His one sacrifice. He repeats in the fullest terms the voluntary subordination of the Son to the Father, which is based upon equality of nature. Not only was the authority by which He would die and rise again derived from the Father, but both these acts were also included in the decree that gave Him the Messianic work. We should be on our guard against the mistake often made of understanding this commandment to refer only to the laying down of His life; it clearly also extends to the taking it again.