---
title: John 10:18
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-18/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-18.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 10:18
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 10:18

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (1984 edition): "No man has taken it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative. I have authority to surrender it, and I have authority to receive it again. The commandment on this I received from my Father."
- NWT (2013 revision): "No man takes it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative. I have authority to surrender it, and I have authority to receive it again. This commandment I received from my Father."

## JW Usage

JWs typically read this verse as Jesus describing his obedient execution of the Father's plan: he surrenders his life because the Father commanded it. The closing clause — "this commandment I received from my Father" — is treated as the load-bearing phrase, framing Jesus' death as a creature's faithful compliance with a superior's directive. Within the Michael-the-archangel framework, the Son's obedience here is the angelic obedience of Hebrews 1:14 amplified: the highest-ranking sent servant, dispatched to a unique mission.

## Protestant Usage

Read the verse in its own order. "No man takes it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative. I have authority to surrender it, and I have authority to receive it again. This commandment I received from my Father" (NWT 2013). Notice the sequence: Jesus first asserts that no one removes his life, then that he surrenders it on his own initiative, then that he has authority to do both — and only at the end does he name the Father's commandment. The commandment is the harmonious mission they share, not a coercion imposed from above. Angels in Hebrews 1:14 are "ministering spirits sent out"; they have no authority to decline, to volunteer, or to determine the manner of their service. Jesus claims all three. Compare Jude 9: Michael the archangel does not even rebuke Satan on his own authority — he says "May Jehovah rebuke you." Michael, the highest angel, defers; Jesus, in John 10:18, asserts. On the doorstep, read the verse aloud in their own NWT and ask: does this sound like an angel under orders, or like the eternal Son who volunteers the divine life into the cross?

## NWT Issue

The NWT 2013 renders "I surrender it of my own initiative" — and the noun pair "authority to surrender / authority to receive" replaces the standard "authority to lay it down / authority to take it up again" of ESV, NASB, KJV, NIV. The Greek lambanō in the second clause means "take," not "receive"; Jesus claims active authority over his own resurrection. The NWT's softer "receive" mutes the Christological force: a being who can take his own life up again is more than a creature.

## 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]
- [If Jesus Is God, Who Raised Him?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/god-cannot-die-jw-closing.md) — Acts 20:28 / 1 Corinthians 2:8 — the two natures of the one Person [Deity of Christ]
- [A Creature Can Point to Life; Only the Source Can Say 'I Am the Life'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/i-am-the-life.md) — Psalm 36:9 / John 11:25 / John 14:6 / John 5:26 — the source of life is with Jehovah, and Jesus says he is that life [Deity of Christ]