Did Jesus (as) not say that he would give up his life voluntarily?

No, not in the sense of a voluntary death on the cross. On the night before the crucifixion, Jesus (as) earnestly begged God to let this cup pass from him, and placed his own will beneath the will of God.

The Gospel of John contains the saying that no one takes the life of Jesus (as) from him, but that he lays it down of his own accord. Some read this as if he sought death on the cross and chose it himself. To understand such a saying properly, however, we have to look at how Jesus (as) actually behaved when the danger came.

On the night before the crucifixion he was in deep anguish. He prayed to God, whom he called his Father, and begged that, if it were possible, this cup might pass from him. Then he added that not his own will should be done, but the will of God. That is not how someone prays who wants to die. It is how a person prays who longs to be saved and at the same time entrusts himself completely to God.

This prayer also shows that two different wills were at work. One asks, the other decides. The will of Jesus (as) was subordinate to the will of God. It was not he who held power over life and death, but God. Anyone who concludes from that single sentence that Jesus (as) decided his own end ends up contradicting his own prayer.

The Holy Qur’an confirms this picture. The verses above show that it was God who decided about the life of Jesus (as), saved him from a shameful death and later caused him to die a natural death. Jesus (as) was a humble servant of God who placed himself entirely in God’s hands in his hardest hour. That is exactly where his greatness lies.