[416] ch. 17:2. 30 I[417] and _my_ Father are one. [417] ch. 17:11, 22. =28-30. And I give unto them eternal life.= Life is the _gift_ of God through Jesus Christ (ch. 1:12; 4:10, 14; 6:27, 32, 51; Rom. 5:17; 6:23; Eph. 1:17), but the necessary condition of receiving it is faith in his Son, _i. e._, the ability to appreciate spiritual life in its highest and most perfect manifestation, and a readiness to follow after it, by leaving all things else to attain it, as did Paul (Phil. 3:13, 14).--=And they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.= The word rendered _perish_ is literally _destroy themselves_ (ἀπόλωνται, _middle voice_); and this seems to me to be the meaning here; otherwise there would be a repetition, the second clause of the promise only reiterating the first clause. The word _man_ is not in the original; _any_ includes all powers, human and superhuman. I, then, understand Christ’s declaration to be that the souls which trust in him _shall never destroy themselves, and no one shall pluck them out of his hand_; _i. e._, he promises to protect his disciples both against their own weaknesses and also against the strength of assailants; from fears without and foes within; from treachery in the soul, and from assaults on the soul. See 1 Cor. 10:13; 15:10; Phil. 4:19; Col. 1:11, etc.--=My Father which gave them to me, is greater than all.= There is some uncertainty as to the reading, but the best critics agree in sustaining the received text.--=No one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.= Without entering into any doubtful disputations respecting the relation of the Father and the Son, a problem which I believe transcends human knowledge, it is evident that the connection here requires us to understand Christ as declaring himself one with the Father, not merely in will or desire, as the disciple is to be one with his Lord, but also in spiritual power. The argument is, “My sheep shall never perish, since my Father who gave them into my hand is greater than all, and I who hold them, am one with him.” This argument would be without force if the meaning was not that Christ’s _power_ is equal to that of the Father. His will might be perfectly in harmony with the divine will, he still could not be trusted as a divine Saviour unless his power was commensurate with his will. So all the best expositors, _Alford_, _Godet_, _Meyer_, _Luthardt_, _Tholuck_. 31 Then[418] the Jews took up stones again to stone him. [418] ch. 8:59. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because[419] that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. [419] verse 30; ch. 5:18; Ps. 82:6; Rom. 13:1.