John Calvin 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 taketh it from me. This is another consolation by which the disciples can take courage regarding the death of Christ: He does not die by constraint, but offers Himself willingly for the salvation of His flock.

Not only does He affirm that men have no power to put Him to death, except insofar 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 necessity of dying on account of 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 so that, when they saw Him shortly afterwards dragged to death, they might not be dismayed, as if He had been oppressed by enemies. Instead, they might acknowledge that 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: 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 received from my Father. He recalls our attention to the eternal purpose of the Father, to inform us that the Father had such care about our salvation that He dedicated to us His only-begotten Son, great and excellent as He is; and Christ Himself, who came into the world to be in all respects obedient to the Father, confirms the statement that He has no other object in view than to promote our benefit.