Charles Ellicott Commentary John 5:26

"For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself:" — John 5:26 (ASV)

Has He given to the Son.—Better, gave He to the Son also.

Life in himself.—The Son has spoken of the dead hearing His voice and living, but this giving of life to others can only be by one who has in himself an original source of life. This the Father has, and this the Son also has.

To the Son in His pre-existent state it was natural, as being equal with the Father. To the Son who had emptied Himself of the exercise of the attributes which constituted the glory of that state (compare again Philippians 2:6 and following), it was part of the Father’s gift by which He exalted Him exceedingly, and gave Him the name which is above every name.

It was, then, a gift in time to One who had possessed it before all time, and for the purposes of the mediatorial work had relinquished it. It was a gift, not to the Eternal Son, but to the Incarnate Word.