John 10:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Because they had often plotted to kill Him, He says, "Apart from My consent, your labor is vain." By what came before He proves what follows, and by His death He proves the resurrection.

This is wondrous and extraordinary, because both things, His death and His resurrection, occurred in a singular and extraordinary manner.

But let us attend carefully to what is said. "I have authority," He says, "to lay down My soul." Yet who does not have authority to lay down his soul? Everyone who wishes can kill himself.

But His words do not have this meaning. What, then, do they mean? "I have such authority to lay it down that, against My will, no one can take it from Me." This cannot be said of men.

"No one takes My life from Me." He says this for those who intended to kill Him. You thirst for My blood, He says, but know firmly that no one can shed it without My will.

Lest anyone think that He dies like a slave and servant, at another's command and in submission to it, He says, "I Myself have authority over My death, as Master of death. I have authority to lay down My life."

Each of you has authority to lay down his life, since anyone who wishes may kill himself. Yet the Lord is not speaking of this kind of death. He means that no one could do this without His will.

Here He teaches that He is not only the good shepherd, who sacrifices Himself for the flock, but also God by nature.

Therefore He could suffer death only voluntarily, since He has divine "authority" over this divine economy, which is most profitable for us. The construction of His words shows that the Jews could never have had authority over Him against His will.

For He did not say, "I have authority," only concerning the laying down of His soul. He used this "I have authority" of both things, death and resurrection.

He did this so that it would not seem to be the work and operation of another power, merely granted to Him by command as to a servant and subordinate.

The Spirit of the Mediator showed that no punishment for sin reaches as far as bodily death, for He destroyed it not unwillingly, but because He willed it, when He willed it, and as He willed it. Being brought into unity by the Word of God, He says here: "I have authority to lay down My life."

How, then, does the Lord lay down His soul? [...] The Word and man. Not man as flesh alone, but the whole man in Christ. The Apollinarists were called heretics because they asserted that He had no human soul. Who lays down the soul and then takes it again? Does Christ, because He is the Word, lay down the soul and then take it again? Or, because He is a human soul, does that soul lay itself down and then take itself again? Or, because He is flesh, does the flesh lay down the soul and then take it? If we said that the Word of God laid down His soul and then took it again, we must beware lest a wrong opinion arise. We might be told, "Then at some time that soul was separated from the Word." What did death do except separate the body from the soul? It did not separate the soul from the Word. If we said that the soul laid itself down and then took itself again, this would be utterly absurd. What was not separated from the Word cannot separate itself from itself. The flesh lays it down, but by permission of the Word. The flesh takes it again, but by permission of the Word.

Hear elsewhere in the Gospel that not only did the Father uphold the Son, but the Son upheld Himself. "Destroy this temple," He says, "and in three days I will raise it up" (Jn 2:19). The Evangelist explains: "He spoke of the temple of His Body" (Jn 2:21). For what had died was raised. The Word is immortal, and His soul is immortal. If even your soul is immortal, can the Lord's soul die?

"How do I know," you will say, "that my soul is immortal?" It cannot be destroyed by you and cannot die. "How," you say, "can I kill my soul?" Not to speak of other sins: "A slanderous mouth kills the soul" (Wis 1:11). "How," you ask, "can I be certain that it does not die?" Listen to the Lord Himself calming His servant: "Do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more" (Lk 12:4; cf. Mt 10:28). Is it clear what He says? "Fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" (Mt 10:28; cf. Lk 12:5). See: it both dies and does not die. What is its death? What is the death of your flesh? The death of your flesh is the loss of its life. The death of your soul is the loss of its life. The life of your flesh is your soul. The life of your soul is your God. As the flesh dies when it loses the soul, which is its life, so the soul dies when it loses God, who is its life. Therefore it is clear that the soul is immortal, for it lives even when dead. What the Apostle said about the pleasure-loving widow may also be said of the soul if it loses its God: she "is dead while she lives" (1 Tim 5:6).

How, then, does the Lord lay down His soul? Brethren, let us consider this more carefully. We are not pressed by time, as usually on the Lord's Day. We have time, and let it serve those who have gathered today for the word of God. "I lay down," He says, "My life." Who lays it down? What does He lay down? What is Christ? The Word and man. He is not man as flesh alone. Since man consists of flesh and soul, the whole man is also in Christ. He would not have assumed the worse part and rejected the better. Clearly the soul is the better part of man than the body. Since the whole man is in Christ, what is Christ? The Word, I repeat, and man. What does "the Word and man" mean? The Word, soul, and flesh.

Hold to this, because there is no lack of heretics who have appeared on this question. They were once driven out from catholic truth. Yet, like thieves and robbers who did not enter through the door, they do not cease laying snares for the sheep. These heretics are called Apollinarists. They dared to dogmatize that Christ is only the Word and flesh, and nothing more. They asserted that He did not assume a human soul. Even some of them could not deny that there was a soul in Christ. Consider this unbearable absurdity and madness. Supposing that He had an irrational soul, they denied Him a rational one. They gave Him the soul of a beast and took away the soul of a man. Certainly they took reason away from Christ because they had lost their own reason.

Let this be far from you. Be nourished and strengthened in the catholic faith. On this matter, beloved, I wish to admonish you as well. In previous readings we instructed you sufficiently against the Sabellians and Arians. Against the Sabellians, who say, "The Father is the same as the Son." Against the Arians, who say, "The Father is one thing, the Son another," as though the Father and the Son did not possess one and the same essence. We also instructed you, as you remember, and you ought to remember, against the Photinian heretics. They asserted that Christ is only man, without God. We instructed you against the Manichaeans, who said that He is only God, without man. On this point we wish to instruct you against the Apollinarists. They say that our Lord Jesus Christ had no human soul, that is, no rational soul, no thinking soul. I mean the soul by which we differ from beasts and are human.

How, then, did the Lord say here, "I have authority to lay down My soul"? Who lays down the soul and restores it again? Does Christ, because He is the Word, lay down the soul and restore it again? Or, because He is a human soul, does it lay itself down and restore itself? Or, because He is flesh, does the flesh lay down the soul and restore it again? I have proposed three possibilities. Let us examine them all and choose the one that accords with truth.

If we say that the Word of God laid down His soul and took it again, we must beware of falling into a distorted judgment. It might be said to us, "Then at some time that soul was separated from the Word. At some time, until the Word took that soul again, the Word remained without a soul." Indeed, I see that the Word was without a human soul, but only when "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn 1:1). But from the time when "the Word became flesh" to dwell among us (cf. Jn 1:14), and man was assumed by the Word, that is, the whole man, soul and flesh, what did the Passion do? What did death do except separate the body from the soul? It did not separate the soul from the Word. For if the Lord died, or rather, since the Lord died, for He died for us on the cross, His flesh undoubtedly yielded up the soul. The soul left the flesh for a time. Yet that flesh was to rise when the soul returned. But I do not say that the soul was separated from the Word. He said to the soul of the thief, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43). He did not abandon the believing soul of the thief. Did He then abandon His own? By no means. In order to protect that soul, the Lord preserved His own and did not separate it.

If we say that the soul laid itself down and again took itself back, our judgment will be exceedingly absurd. What was not separated from the Word could separate itself from itself. Therefore let us say what is true and what may be understood without difficulty. Here is a man, composed not of Word, soul, and flesh, but only of soul and flesh. Let us ask about such a man how he lays down his soul, as every man does. Can an ordinary man not lay down his soul? You may tell me that no man has authority to lay down his soul and take it again. If a man could not lay down his soul, the Apostle John would not have said, "As Christ laid down His soul for us, so we also ought to lay down our souls for the brethren" (cf. 1 Jn 3:16). Therefore it is granted to us also, if only we are filled with His strength, because without Him we can do nothing, to lay down our souls for our brethren.

When any martyr laid down his soul for the brethren, who laid it down, and what did he lay down? If we understand this, then we shall see in what sense Christ said, "I have authority to lay down My soul." O man, are you ready to die for Christ? "I am ready," he says. I will put my question in other words: "Are you ready to lay down your soul for Christ?" He will answer me, "I am ready," just as he would answer the question, "Are you ready to die?" Therefore to lay down the soul is the same as to die. Why, then, dispute? All men, when they die, lay down the soul, but not all lay it down for Christ. No one has authority to take back what he laid down. But Christ laid it down for us. He laid it down when He willed, and likewise, when He willed, He took it again.

Therefore to lay down the soul is to die. So also the Apostle Peter said to the Lord, "I will lay down my soul for You" (Jn 13:37), that is, "I will die for You." Attribute this to the flesh. The flesh lays down its soul, and the flesh takes it again. Yet it does this not by its own power, but by the power of Him who dwells in the flesh. Thus the flesh lays down its soul by yielding it up. Look at the Lord Himself on the cross. He said, "I thirst" (Jn 19:28). Those who stood nearby dipped a sponge in vinegar, fixed it to a reed, and brought it to His mouth. Having tasted it, He said, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30). What does "It is finished" mean? It means, "Everything that had to happen before death, as foretold about Me, has been fulfilled." Since He had authority to lay down His soul when He willed, after He said, "It is finished," what did the Evangelist say? "And bowing His head, He gave up the spirit" (Jn 19:30). This is to lay down the soul.

Listen to this, beloved. "Bowing His head, He gave up the spirit." Who gave it up? What did He give up? He gave up the spirit. His flesh gave it up. What does it mean that His flesh gave it up? His flesh released it, His flesh breathed it out. For this is why we say "expire," to make the spirit be outside. Likewise, to be in exile is to be outside one's land. To deviate is to be outside the road. So to expire is to make the spirit be outside, the spirit which is the soul. When the soul leaves the flesh and the flesh remains without the soul, then a man is said to have laid down his soul. When did Christ lay down His soul? When the Word willed it. For primacy belonged to the Word. It determined when the flesh would leave the soul and when it would take it again.

If, then, the flesh laid down the soul, how did Christ lay down the soul? For Christ is not flesh. Certainly Christ is flesh, Christ is soul, and Christ is the Word. Yet these three are not three Christs, but one Christ. Ask man, and from yourself take a step toward what is above you, if not yet to understand, at least to believe. Just as one man is soul and body, so one Christ is the Word and man. See what I have said, and understand. Soul and body are two things, but man is one. The Word and man are two things, but Christ is one.

Ask, then, about man. Where is the Apostle Paul now? If someone answers that he is at rest with Christ, he speaks the truth. If someone answers that he is in Rome in a tomb, he also speaks the truth. One answers me concerning his soul, the other concerning his flesh. Yet we do not say that there are two Apostle Pauls, one at rest with Christ and the other lying in the tomb. We say that the Apostle Paul lives in Christ, and we also say that the Apostle Paul lies dead in the tomb. Someone dies, and we say, "He is a good man, a faithful man, and he is at peace with the Lord." Then immediately we say, "Let us go to his funeral and bury him." You are going to bury the one about whom you just said that he is at peace with God. One statement refers to the soul, which flourishes in immortality. The other refers to the body, which lies in corruption. Yet because the unity of soul and flesh has received the name of man, both names are used of man, even when each is apart from the other.

Thus, at the time of the Passion, He foretells that He will voluntarily separate His soul from His own body, saying: "No one takes My soul from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again."

The Godhead remains one and the same before the Incarnation, during the Incarnation, and after the Passion. It always remains by nature what it was, and continues always.

In the Passion of the human nature, the Godhead fulfilled its care for us. It separated the soul from the body for a time, while not being separated from either part with which it was united.

It then joined again what had been divided. Thus it gives sequence and beginning to the whole human nature's resurrection from the dead.

To be troubled belongs to the flesh. But to have authority to lay down and take up the soul whenever one wills belongs not to men, but to the God of power.

A man dies not by his own authority, but by natural necessity and against his will. The Lord, however, being Himself immortal yet possessing mortal flesh, had authority as God to depart from the body and to take it again whenever He willed.

David also sings of this: "For You will not leave My soul in Hades, nor will You give Your Holy One to see corruption" (Ps 15:10).

It was necessary that the flesh, being corruptible, should no longer remain mortal according to its nature. Rather, it had to become incorruptible through the Word who had put it on.

For as He, being in our body, imitated us, so we, receiving Him, obtain immortality from Him.

The Master teaches more clearly about His taking a soul upon Himself. To those who supposed that His suffering was involuntary, He said before the Passion: "I have authority to lay down" My soul, "and I have authority to take it again. No one takes it from Me; I lay it down of Myself, that I may take it again" (Jn 10:17-18).

By this He clearly showed that the soul laid down and received back is one thing, and the Godhead that lays it down and receives it back is another. I say "one thing and another" not to divide Him into two persons, but to show the distinction of natures.

Thus the Lord also said elsewhere: "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My soul for the sheep" (Jn 10:15, 17).

"No one takes it from Me," that is, against My will. No one would hand Me over to death unless I willed it.

"But I lay it down of Myself," voluntarily, as the Lover of mankind. By these words Jesus Christ points to His death on the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead.

"I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again." I have this authority as almighty and all-powerful God.

Thus the plotters would have labored in vain if Jesus Christ had not willed to die. Yet later some madmen reproached Him, saying, "He saved others; can He not save Himself?" (Mt 27:42).

"This commandment I have received from My Father," to lay down His soul for the sheep and to die for the world.

The mighty Word and true man, rationally redeeming us by His blood, gave Himself as a ransom for those subjected to captivity.

Since apostasy unjustly gained dominion over us, and unnaturally alienated us from Him, though by nature we are the possession of almighty God, it made us its own disciples.

Therefore the Word of God, almighty yet not lacking in His justice, righteously turned against apostasy itself. He redeemed His own possession from it, not by force, as apostasy had gained dominion over us by greedily snatching what belonged to another.

Rather, He redeemed by persuasion, as befits God. He persuades, and does not use violence, to receive what He wills. Thus justice would not be violated, and the ancient creation of God would not perish.

Do you wish to be assured that He went voluntarily to the Passion? Others die unwillingly or unexpectedly. But He foretold His Passion: "Behold, the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified" (Mt 26:2).

Do you know why the Lover of mankind did not flee death? It was so that the world might not perish completely because of sins.

"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over and crucified" (Mt 20:18). And elsewhere: "He set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Lk 9:51).

Do you wish to know precisely that the Cross is glory for Jesus? Listen not to my words, but to His own.

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and died willingly, for many benefits and for many reasons. All this was according to His human nature. For the LOGOS is neither crucified, nor dies, nor rises again. Yet, of course, He raised the dead, just as He raised the flesh which He bore.

Speaking of Himself as the Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep, Jesus said that He gives His life voluntarily. No one takes it from Him or can take it from Him.

He said that authority belongs to Him both to lay it down and to take it again, and that He received this authority from His Father.

By these words He pointed to His approaching death. So that His disciples would not fall away from Him when they saw Him on the Cross, He explained beforehand that no one could deprive Him of life without His will.

He also explained that, giving His life voluntarily, He had authority to take it again.

"No one takes it," that is, by force. Created beings can take nothing from the Almighty. If He dies according to God's eternal decree, He does not die unwillingly, but voluntarily, out of love (cf. Jn 14:31), so that after the bonds of death He may take up life again.

"I have authority" expresses complete freedom to do both this and that. According to His divine-human nature, the Lord was not subject to death by necessity. Nor was He necessarily under death.

Death is the necessary consequence only of sin, and the nature of the God-man was sinless. Therefore it lay within the Lord's authority to hand Himself over to death. Yet He had still greater authority to take up again the life over which death had no power (cf. Chrysostom).

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again" (Jn 10:17-18). Wondrous love breathes in these words.

The Father looks with delight upon the love with which the Son loves His sheep. He also looks upon the joy with which, in accord with the Father's will (v. 18), He gives His life for their salvation.

The Son's love for men is such that the heavenly Father Himself beholds it with rapture. And the Father's love is such that He does not spare even His own Son.

"No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." Out of love for the Father's will, the Son sacrifices His life for men. He does not do so because He is supposedly compelled.