John 10:18

10:18 No one can take my life from me: The Son’s death was voluntary. Jesus was not a martyr or a victim. His decision to die was freely given in obedience and intimate relationship with his Father (see Acts 2:23-24). • Jesus’ resurrection was not an afterthought in which God rescued his Son from tragedy. God could not be contained by a tomb, and since Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus possessed the authority to rise from death.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 10:18. Οὐδείς, no man) Comp. Joh 10:29, “No man is able to pluck—out of My Father’s hand.”—αἴρει, taketh away) by His own power and will.—ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ, from Myself) Jesus of His own accord gave 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 connection subsists between the two things [laying down His life, and taking it up again] (Comp. the that, Joh 10:17, I lay [it] down, that I might take it again), over which He possesses a twofold power.—ἐξουσίαν ἔχω, I have power) So ἔχωσι, that they might have [life], is repeated, Joh 10:10. Add ch. Joh 19:10 [Pilate], “I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee.”—παρὰ τοῦ Πατρός μου, from My Father) He ascribes His highest power to the Father.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 10:18 . οὐδεὶς … ἐμαυτοῦ . He did not succumb to the machinations of His foes. To the last He was free to choose another exit from life; Mat 26:53 . He gave His life freely, perceiving that this was the Father’s will: ἐξουσίαν … μου . Others have only power to choose the time or method of their death, and not always that: Jesus had power absolutely to 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 clash with the instrumentality of the Jews in taking His life, nor with the power of God in raising Him again. ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν . “This commandment” thus to dispose of His life and to resume it He has received from the Father. In this as in all else He is fulfilling the will and purpose of God.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to 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 own death. It is beyond all doubt the language of One who was conscious that 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 "power to take it again" is no less important, as showing that His resurrection, though ascribed to the Father, in the sense we shall presently see, was nevertheless His own assertion of His own right to life as soon as the purposes of His voluntary death were accomplished.

This commandment--to "lay down His--life, that He might take it again."

have I received of 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 necessity of Christ's death, in the light of these profound sayings, must be manifest to all but the superficial student.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. I have power] Or, authority, εξουσιαν. Our Lord speaks of himself here as man, or the Messiah, as being God's messenger, and sent upon earth to fulfil the Divine will, in dying and rising again for the salvation of men.

This commandment have I received] That is, I act according to the Divine commandment in executing these things, and giving you this information.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. No man taketh it 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 salvation of his flock. Not only does he affirm that men have no power to 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 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, that, when they saw him shortly afterwards dragged to death, they might not be dismayed, as if he had been oppressed by enemies, but 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, 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 received from my Father. He recalls our attention to the eternal purpose of the Father, in order to inform us that He 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.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(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 Father is included in the thought. The laying down of the life is absolutely self-determined, and therefore it is the reason of the 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 Luk_23:46.)

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.—The words apply also 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, as the whole of the life of the Son, is in moral subordination to the Father. (Comp. Notes on Joh_5:19; Joh_19:10.) Hence it is that 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 again was under the Father’s authority, and was therefore itself the Father’s gift. (Comp. Note on 1Pe_3:19.)

This commandment have I received of my Father.—Better, did I receive; pointing, probably, to the commission at the time of the Incarnation. He has asserted in fullest terms the entirely voluntary nature of His one sacrifice. He repeats in fullest terms the voluntary subordination of Son to 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 included in the decree which gave to Him the Messianic work. We should be on our guard against the mistake which is often made of understanding this commandment of the laying down the life only; it clearly extends also to the taking it again.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. No man taketh it from me] Better, No one taketh it from Me; not even God. See on Joh_10:28. Two points are insisted on; (1) that the Death is entirely voluntary; (2) that both Death and Resurrection are in accordance with a commission received from the Father. Comp. ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit’ (Luk_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’ (Mat_27:50); ‘gave up the ghost’ (Joh_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 Joh_1:12, Joh_5:27, Joh_17:2, Joh_19:10. This authority is the commandment of the Father: and hence this passage in no way contradicts the usual N.T. doctrine that Christ was raised to life again by the Father. Act_2:24.

This commandment have I received] Better, This commandment received I, viz., at the Incarnation: the commandment to die and rise again. Comp. Joh_4:34, Joh_5:30, Joh_6:38.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No man taketh it from me,.... It was indeed taken away at the instigation of the Jews, and by the order of Pilate, and by means of the Roman soldiers, who crucified him; and the former of these are often charged with slaying him, and killing him, the Prince of life; and it is expressly said, "his life is taken from the earth", Act 8:33; and yet no man could, nor did take it away, without his Father's will, and determinate counsel and 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 away his life from him, without his own consent; he voluntarily surrendered himself, or he could never have been taken; he went freely to the cross, or he could never have been led there; he suffered himself to be nailed to the accursed tree, and when he hung on it, he could easily have disengaged himself, and come down; and when they had him there, they could not have taken away his 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 own accord, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render it; which was done with the greatest patience and meekness, resolution, courage and magnanimity; and with a full will, and with the greatest cheerfulness and alacrity; and that as a ransom for his people, and that they might live through him:

I have power to 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 disposed of by him, and not by ourselves: but Christ, the Prince of life, had a power of laying down his life of his own accord, as a ransom price for his sheep:

and I have power to take it again; as he was the Son of God, and truly God, and as the surety of his people; having satisfied law and justice, by his obedience, sufferings, and death, and for the ends mentioned in note; see Gill on Joh 10:17,

this commandment have I received of my Father; which may respect both branches of his power, but is not the foundation of it, but the reason of 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 capacity he 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 received of my Father": this is a reason why 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 received from him, with the utmost pleasure; his and his Father's love, good will, gracious ends and views towards the elect, herein being the same.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Ver. 18. I lay it down of myself] A necessity there was of our Saviour’s death, but it was a necessity of immutability (because God had decreed it, Act 2:23), not of coaction. He died willingly. Therefore, when he gave up the ghost, he cried with a loud voice, which shows that his life was not then spent; he might have retained it longer if he would; and thereupon the centurion concludes him to be the Son of God.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 power to preserve his life, as he showed by so often escaping from the Pharisees; he voluntarily went up to Jerusalem, knowing that he would die; he knew the approach of Judas to betray him; and he expressly told Pilate at his bar that he could have no power at all against him except it were given him by his Father, Joh 19:11. Jesus had a right to lay down his life for the good of 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 way of danger and of death, when a dying world needed such an atoning sacrifice. This shows the special love 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 known to man, and thus showed his love.

I have power - This word often means authority. It includes all necessary power in the case, and the commission or authority of his Father to do it.

Power to take it again - This shows that he was divine. A dead man has no power to raise himself from the grave. And as Jesus had this power after 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 power over his own body it proves that he was divine.

This commandment - My Father has appointed this, and commissioned me to do it.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

No man taketh it from me by force, without my willing it and consenting to it; the Jews and Pilate will take it from me, but not without my free and voluntary surrender of it: and this is that which we read, Act 4:27,28, For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Plate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. By which he asserts his Divine power, and so comforteth his disciples against the 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 commission to do, and for which he hath sent me into the world: and thus he declareth his death to be a fulfilling of his Father’s purpose, and an act of obedience to his Father’s will; and indeed, in his obedience in the thing lay much of the virtue of his death.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. No man taketh it from me—And yet, perhaps, his very murderers stood before him! Nevertheless not even the thorns, the nails, the cross, or the spear could have taken his life had he not consented to surrender his life to death. Not only as sinless was he rightfully deathless; but, as Lord of life and death, he surrendered life and accepted death of his own most perfect free will. And this most earnest will of Christ thereto solves the cavil of rationalists, that there was a cruelty and wrong to Jesus in requiring his death. All beings have a right, even the innocent, to prefer sufferings for others, whether as patriot, martyr, or ransom.

Commandment… Father— The free volition of the Son was in profound concurrence and harmony with the primitive purpose of the Father’s will. And the whole process was bathed in infinite love.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. Should the aorist be the true reading, then the whole of the Incarnation must have been regarded by the Lord as already accomplished, as a completed fact. The oudeiv , "no one" neither God, nor man, nor evil spirit taketh it, i.e. my life, away from me, from myself, in the exercise of my sovereign will, in the full consciousness of spontaneity. I am laying it down, not in consequence of my 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 Joh_5:30, which appears at first to be in contradiction with the statement of this verse; but the closing words of the verse rectify the impression; see also Joh_7:28 Joh_8:28) Christ justifies his extraordinary claim to lay down and after his death (retaining then the full possession of his Personality), to reassume the life which for a while, in submission to the doom on human nature, he had resolved to sacrifice, tie says, I have (exousian ) right or, power and authority combinedto lay it down, and right to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father. I have power to do both these things. No other has ever put forth such a claim, and the discharge of it "from himself," i.e. spontaneously, is stated to be in consequence of an entolh , an appoint-merit, an ordinance, he had received from 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 agony in the garden, given by the synoptists, confirms the blending of his own freedom with the Divine order; but the language of this Gospel, (Joh_18:6, cf. Mat_26:53 and Joh_19:11) and the best researches into what is called "the physical cause of the 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 call it a command. The Father"s mandate was, Thou shalt die or not die, thou shalt rise again or 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 consequence of his perfect obedience. So that all the assurances that God raised him from the dead are confirmed by the mode in which he speaks of his Divine right.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I lay it down of myself - By my own free act and deed. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again - I have an original power and right of myself, both to lay it down as a ransom, and to take it again, after full satisfaction is made, for the sins of the whole world. This commission have I received of my Father - Which I readily execute. He chiefly spoke of the Father, before his suffering: of his own glory, after it. Our Lord's receiving this commission as mediator is not to be considered as the ground of his power to lay down and resume his life. For this he had in himself, as having an original right to dispose thereof, antecedent to the Father's commission. But this commission was the reason why he thus used his power in laying down his life. He did it in obedience to his Father.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

18. I lay it down of myself. His life. He gave himself for man of his free will. He laid it down on the cross; he took it up when he rose from the dead. Abbott says of the lesson in these eighteen verses, “I understand this lesson to be a parable with a double application. First, Christ compares the Pharisees to shepherds, himself to the door, and declares that those only are true shepherds who enter through the door; that is, through Christ and his authority. All others are thieves and robbers. Then he changes the application and declares himself the good shepherd whose praises David and Isaiah sung, and indicates the nature of the service that he will render unto his sheep by giving for them his life.”

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

18. οὐδεὶς αἴρει. No one taketh it from Me; not even God. See on Joh 10:28. Two points are insisted on; (1) that the Death is entirely voluntary: this is stated both negatively and positively: see on Joh 1:3; (2) that both Death and Resurrection are in accordance with a commission received from the Father. Comp. ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit’ (Luk 23:46). The precise words used by the two Apostles of Christ’s death bring this out very clearly; παρέδωκεν τὸ πνεῦμα (Joh 19:30); ἀφῆκεν τ. πν. (Mat 27:50). The ἐξέπνευσεν of S. Mark and S. Luke is less strong; but none use the simple ἀπέθανεν. Ἐγώ is emphatic; but I lay it down of Myself.

ἐξουσίαν ἔχω. I have right, authority, liberty: Joh 1:12, Joh 5:27, Joh 17:2, Joh 19:10. This authority is the commandment of the Father: and hence this passage in no way contradicts the usual N.T. doctrine that Christ was raised to life again by the Father. Act 2:24.

τ. τ. ἐντολήν. The command to die and rise again, which He ‘received’ at the Incarnation. Comp. Joh 4:34, Joh 5:30, Joh 6:38.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18.] The truth of this voluntary rendering up was shewn by His whole sufferings, from the falling of His enemies to the ground in the garden (ch. 18:6) to His last words, παρατίθεμαι τὸ πν. μου, Luk 23:46 (see note there). His resurrection also was eminently His own work, by virtue of the Spirit of the Father dwelling in and filling Him: the ἐξουσία in both these cases being the ἐντολή, appointment, ordinance of the Father, from the counsel of whose will the whole mediatorial office of Christ sprung: see ch. 12:49.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. οὐδεὶς ἦρεν αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ. א*B read ἦρεν, while the easier reading of the rec. text (אcADWΘ latt.) is αἴρει If the aorist ἦρεν is adopted, “no one took it from me,” Jn. is representing Jesus as speaking sub specie œternitatis. The issue is so certain that He speaks of His death, which is still in the future, as if it were already past. Whether ἦρεν or αἴρει be read, it is the voluntariness of the Death of Jesus which is emphasised; cf. 18:6, Mat 26:53.

ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τίθημι αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ. This clause is omitted by D, probably because of its apparent verbal inconsistency with 5:19 (cf. 5:30, 7:28, 8:28) οὐ δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν. But there is no real inconsistency. ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ here does not mean without authority from the Father, for that authority is asserted in the next sentence. It only implies spontaneity, voluntariness, in the use of the authority which Jesus has received from the Father, and in the obeying of the Father’s commandment. See on 5:19.

ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι αὐτήν. For ἐξουσία, “authority” as distinct from “power,” in Jn., see on 1:12. The authority which Jesus claimed from the Father was, first, the authority to lay down His life spontaneously (which no one has unless he is assured that his death will directly serve the Divine purposes); and, secondly, the authority to resume it again. That He had been given this latter ἐξουσία is in accordance with the consistent teaching of the N.T. writers that it is God the Father who was the Agent of the Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is not represented as raising Himself from the dead. See on 2:19.

ταύτην τὴν ἐντολήν κτλ. This was the Father’s commandment, viz. that He should die and rise again. See further on 12:49 for the Father’s ἐντολή addressed to Christ. This Johannine expression is recalled in Hermas (Sim. v. vi. 3), δοῦς αὐτοῖς τὸν νόμον ὃν ἔλαβε παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ.

10:19. The sequence of ideas brings vv. 19-29 into direct connexion with c. 9 rather than with 10:1-18, and they are printed accordingly at this point. See Introd., p. xxiv, for some considerations which favour the order 9:41, 10:19-29, 10:1-18, 10:30ff.

Diversity of Opinion About Jesus (vv. 19-22)

σχίσμα. A division of opinion had appeared before among the crowd (7:43), but this was among the Jewish critics of Jesus, the Pharisees, who were not all of one mind about Him. πάλιν refers back to the σχίσμα of 9:16, which had originated in the cure of the blind man, and which is still apparent.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Taketh away [αιρει] . Some texts read hren, took away. According to this reading the word would point back to the work of Jesus as conceived and accomplished in the eternal counsel of God, where His sacrifice of Himself 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 [εξουσιαν] . Rev., in margin, right. See on 1 12.

Commandment [εντολην] . See on Jas 2:8.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.