οὐδεὶς … ἐμαυτοῦ. He did not succumb to the machinations of His foes. To the last He was free to choose another exit from life; Matthew 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.

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Old Testament