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.