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Joh_10:29-30. Explanation of the assertion just made, οὐχ ἁρπάσει , etc. If in my hand, they are also in the hand of my Father, who is greater than all, so that an ἁρπάζειν , etc. is impossible; I am one with Him.
ὃς δέδωκέ μοι ] sc. αὐτά . On the import of the words, compare on Joh_6:37. In characterizing God as the giver of the sheep, Jesus enables us to see how fully He is justified in appealing, as He here does, to the Father.
μεῖζον (see the critical note): something greater, a greater potence. On the neuter here employed, compare Mat_12:6 (Lachmann). See Bernhardy, p. 335; Kühner II. p. 45; Dissen ad Dem. de Cor. p. 396 ( πονηρὸν ὁ συκοφάντης ).
πάντων ] Masculine. Compare τίς , Joh_10:28, and οὐδείς , Joh_10:29. Without any limitation: all besides God.
καὶ οὐδεὶς δύναται , etc.] Necessary consequence of the μεῖζον πάντων , but not setting aside the possibility of losing the grace by one’s own fault, Joh_6:66.
ἐκ τ . χειρ . τοῦ πατρ . μου ]. This expression, τοῦ πατρ . μ ., is due to the presupposition, flowing out of ὃς δέδωκέ μοι , that God did not let the sheep out of His hand, i.e. out of His protection and guidance, when He gave them to Christ. But this continued divine protection is really nothing else than the protection of Christ, so far, that is, as the Father is in the Son and works in Him (see Joh_10:37-38); hence the latter, as the organ and vehicle of the divine activity in carrying out the Messianic work, is not separated from God, is not a second some one outside and alongside of God; but, by the very nature of the fellowship referred to, one with God (compare Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 205 f.). Compare on ἕν ἐσμεν , 1Co_3:8. God’s hand is therefore His hand in the accomplishment of the work, during the performance of which He administers and carries into execution the power, love, and so forth of God. The unity, therefore, is one of dynamic fellowship, i.e. a unity of action for the realization of the divine decree of redemption; according to which, the Father is in the Son, and moves in Him, so that the Father acts in the things which are done by the Son, and yet is greater than the Son (Joh_14:28), because He has commissioned, consecrated, and sent Him. The Arian idea of ethical agreement is insufficient; the reasoning would miss its mark unless unity of power be understood (on which Chrysostom, Euth. Zigabenus, and many others, also Lücke, justly lay emphasis). The orthodox interpretation, which makes it denote unity of essence (Nonnus: ἓν γένος ἐσμεν ; Augustine: unum, delivers us from Charybdis, that is, from Arius, and sumus from Scylla, that is, from Sabellius), specially defended by Hengstenberg, though rejected even by Calvin as a misuse of the passage, goes beyond the argumentation; at the same time, in view of the metaphysical character of the relation of the Son to the Father, clearly taught elsewhere, and especially in John, the Homoousia, as the essential foundation, must be regarded as presupposed in the fellowship here denoted by ἕν ἐσμεν .