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The Gospel of Philip echoes John's language about Jesus freely laying down his life, but extends it back to the world's beginning. This makes his death part of a longer work of recovering what already belonged to him, rather than a single event.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
John 10:17
New Testament
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.”
Gospel of Philip 1:28
Nag Hammadi
Christ came to purchase some; however, to save others; also, to redeem others. The strangers were the ones he purchased, and he made them to belong to him, and he placed those who belong to him apart. These are the ones he specified as a deposit in his will. Not only when he appeared did he lay down his life whenever he willed, but from the day the world existed he laid down his life whenever he willed. He then came, first to take possession of it, because it had been specified as a deposit. It came into the possession of the thieves, and they captured it. He, however, saved it, and the good in the world, he redeemed them, as well as the bad.
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Notes and References
“... The claim that Christ laid down his life (ⲁϥⲕⲱ ⲧⲯⲩⲭⲏ) voluntarily in §9c has verbal overlap with John 10:17–18 where Jesus states, ‘I lay down my life (evgw. ti,qhmi th.n yuch,n mou || ϯⲛⲁⲕⲱ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲧⲁⲯⲩⲭⲏ),’ and thematic overlap with Jesus’ action of voluntarily laying down his life, ‘I lay it down of myself.’ The first clause in the Gos. Phil. interprets ⲕⲱ + ⲯⲩⲭⲏ as a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion ‘when he appeared,’ which aligns with its meaning in the FG. However, the second clause may not refer to his death, but rather the depositing of his soul into others ‘from the day the world came into being.’33 This would align with Valentinian theology and the Savior’s intimate identification with the Valentinians (see §15 below). The combination of characteristic language from the FG (ti,qhmi + yuch, || ⲕⲱ + ⲯⲩⲭⲏ),34 with a similar theme, and in a similar context, indicates a plausible influence from John 10:17–18a. ...”
Zelyck, Lorne R.
John among the Other Gospels: The Reception of the Fourth Gospel in the Extra-Canonical Gospels
(pp. 113-114) Mohr Siebeck, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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