“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my
life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of
my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it
up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” There was again a
division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a
demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words
of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?””
(John 10:17–21, ESV)
It is not as if Jesus could do anything to increase the
Father’s love for the Son, but actions can certainly demonstrate why the One is
so loved by the Other. Jesus said a few chapters later in John 15;12-13, “This
is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love
has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (ESV) Jesus
demonstrated the love of the Father through His action of laying down His life
for us. Jesus Himself said that there was no greater love than this. It is the
highest way that one can love another by giving himself fully for that person
in order to meet their incredible need. Jesus did this out of His love for us
and in so doing also demonstrated for us the kind of love that the Father and
the Son had for each other. Both being fully God, the Son loved the Father so
much that He willing came to give His life in full and agreeable accord with
the will of the Father. Because the Father loved us so much He gave us His Son
so that we might have life. This is exactly what Jesus told Nicodemus in John
3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (NASB95)
That’s why the Father would so love the Son because the Son
would willingly lay down His life knowing He also would take it up again.
Though man may have willingly and hatefully sent Him to the cross, this was
something that Jesus came to do according to the will of the Father from ages
past. He chose to do this of His own accord because of His love for the Father
and His love for us. He had all of the authority He needed to do both as He
willingly received His charge from the Father.
The Father and the Son were one in their mutual love for
each other, their love for man, and the plan which they chose in order to bring
man back into a relationship with the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In contrast to this oneness there was division between the hearers of the
message. Some of them cried out that Jesus must have a demon, be insane or both.
No one in their right mind, no one who isn’t possessed by a demon would claim
to be one with God. Many could claim that they had the right to lay down their
life, but no one who is totally right in himself would claim that he also had
the power to take his own life back up again. This is not something that man
can do, and therefore Jesus must be out of his mind. Others, however, clearly
objected to their argument. They objected to the concept that Jesus must be
demon possessed and crazy. They said that His words were not those of someone
possessed. Rather His works clearly proved that He must be sent by God because
only God had the power to open the eyes of the blind, and this is clearly what
Jesus did.
Clearly for some the power of God was demonstrated in such a
way that their hearts softened and their eyes were opened. They heard what
Jesus said and they believed. They may not have clearly understood, but they
knew that these were the words of one sent by God. Others continued to find
problems with His words and they continued to reject His works as substantial
proof. For them their hearts remained hardened, their eyes blind, and their
ears deafened. Jesus said over and over again that the only way to receive
eternal life was to believe in the Son sent by the Father. And as Jesus was
preparing the crowd for the quickly approaching time when He indeed would lay
down His life for His sheep there were those who were beginning to recognize
the voice of their Shepherd.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11, ESV)
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