John 10:17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again.
v. 18 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."
Not attempting to hijack the thread, but just wanted to share something that just hit me. When you are studying and meditating on the oneness of Jesus and the Father, throw this scripture in the mix and chew on it for awhile. This is deep.
Hi Abednego,
Greetings!
Indeed that Scripture is deep.....but,
What Jesus said that He had the authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again which he received from His Father.
then................
If he was dead then how can he have the 'authority' (or ability) to do anything? So what made sense to me was that it was God the Father that raised him from the dead. And if he wasn't dead (as Christendom teaches, then he was crucified for our sins, but not die/dead).
Many scriptures prophesy that Jesus Christ was to be raised from the dead. Christ himself predicted that He would be killed and on the third day be resurrected.
Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.It was the Father who resurrected Him.
Romans 6:4
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. But Jesus said in:
John 2:19
Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”The Bible is never contradictory.
In fact, there are many scriptures that show that the Father raised Jesus.
Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
When Jesus was dead in the sepulchre, the Holy Spirit from God the Father entered into the corpse of Jesus Christ imparting immortality. Jesus regained consciencness and then raised Himself from the sepulchre in the physical body with which He would appear for the next 40 days to His followers. After God the Father had imparted spiritual life into Jesus Christ, Jesus then raised His physical body from the sepulcher. Later, He finally ascended to Heaven.