Bible Strands
John 10:17
The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses His listeners while explaining the voluntary nature of His death and resurrection, immediately following His declaration of gathering one flock under one shepherd.
The words — The Greek διὰ (dia) and ὅτι (hoti) both function as causal markers, establishing that the Father’s love for Jesus is directly grounded in His intentional act of laying down and taking up His life.
The thread — This sequence of voluntary sacrifice and sovereign authority recurs in John 10:15, John 10:18, and John 10:11, where Jesus repeatedly identifies Himself as the shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to recognize that Jesus’ death and resurrection are deliberate, authorized acts rather than forced events, framing the Father’s love as a direct response to this sovereign obedience.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Cross-references
- John 10:18 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.”
- John 10:15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
- John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
- Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.
- John 15:9 As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.
- John 17:4 I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.
- Isaiah 42:1 “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- John 17:24 Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
- John 3:25 Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing.