Given, not taken

Jesus uses a word for authority here: I have the right to do this. Authority to lay down his life, and to take it up again. The New Testament usually says that God raised him from the dead. Here Jesus speaks as if he does it himself.

Having something taken and giving it are very different things. What is taken from you makes you a victim. What you give remains yours, even if it costs everything. Not every sacrifice is good. Sometimes you need to say no. But Jesus chooses for himself. No one forces his love.