---
title: John 10:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 10:17
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 10:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (1984 edition): "This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my soul, in order that I may receive it again."
- NWT (2013 revision): "This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my life, so that I may receive it again."

## JW Usage

JWs read John 10:17 as Jesus the obedient son carrying out the Father's will. Because Watchtower theology identifies Jesus as Michael the archangel, the Father's love for the Son is read as covenantal favour toward a uniquely faithful created being who reliably executes assigned tasks. The verb "I surrender my life" (NWT) is treated as the obedience-language of a perfect creature, parallel to angelic service.

## Protestant Usage

John 10:17 is the first half of a two-verse statement in which Jesus describes his death as something he initiates, not something assigned to him. The Father loves the Son because the Son surrenders his life in order to take it up again — resurrection language Jesus claims as his own act, not a dispatch order. Pair this verse with verse 18: the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up are both said to belong to Jesus. Angels in Hebrews 1:14 are "ministering spirits sent out to render service"; they are dispatched, not consulted. The Son's obedience here is volitional within the Godhead, flowing from the eternal love between Father and Son (compare John 17:24). On the doorstep, ask: an angel under orders cannot say "I surrender my life of my own initiative" — angels do not possess divine life to surrender. What kind of being does?

## NWT Issue

The NWT 2013 renders the Greek tithēmi as "surrender" rather than "lay down" ("I surrender my life, so that I may receive it again"). The standard English consensus (ESV, NASB, KJV, NIV) reads "lay down my life… that I may take it again." The NWT's "surrender / receive" pairing softens the active authority Jesus claims in the next verse. The Greek verb in v. 18 is lambanō (take), not "receive" passively; Jesus claims authority to take his life back, not just receive it.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Trinitarian Resurrection — Who Raised Jesus from the Dead?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinitarian-resurrection.md) — John 2:19 / Galatians 1:1 / Romans 8:11 [Deity of Christ]
- [Volunteer or Servant? — Why the Son's Obedience Cannot Be Angelic](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/voluntary-submission-vs-angelic.md) — John 10:18 / Philippians 2:6-8 / Hebrews 1:14 [Deity of Christ]