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In this statement we notice the following characteristics of this sacrifice which the Good Shepherd makes for His sheep.

1. It was deliberate. "For this purpose He came into the world."

2. It was voluntary. "No man taketh My life. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."

3. It is vicarious. Not for them in defence, but for them vicariously. He died for them as a substitute, "bearing their own sins in His own body."

4. It was an accepted sacrifice. "Therefore doth the Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again" (John 10:17).

(G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)

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KJV: I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

WEB: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.