t a claim to Divinity was implied in His words; but
even in the saying which first gave them offence, "I and the Father are
one," it is rather what is implied than what is expressed that carries
with it such a claim. For Calvin is unquestionably right in maintaining
that these words were not intended to affirm identity of substance with
the Father.[36] An ambassador whose actions or claims were contested
might very naturally say, "I and my Sovereign are One"; not meaning
thereby to claim royal dignity, but meaning to assert that what he did,
his Sovereign did; that his signature carried his Sovereign's guarantee,
and that his pledges would be fulfilled by the entire resources of his
Sovereign. And as God's delegate, as the great Messianic Viceroy among
men, it was no doubt this that our Lord wished in the first place to
affirm, that He was the representative of God, doing His will, and
backed by all His authority. "See the Father in Me," was His constant
demand. All His self-assertion and self-revelation were meant to reveal
the Father.

But although He does not directly and explicitly say, "I am God";
although He does not even use such language of Himself as John uses,
when he says, "The Word was God"; yet is not His Divine nature a
reasonable inference from such affirmations as that which we are here
considering? Some interpreters very decidedly maintain that when Christ
says, "I and the Father are one," He means one in power. They affirm
that this assertion is made to prove that none of His sheep will be
plucked out of His hand, and that this is secured because His Father is
"greater than all," and He and His Father are one. Accordingly they hold
that neither the old orthodox interpretation nor the Arian is correct:
not the orthodox, because not unity of essence but unity of power is
meant; not the Arian, because something more is meant than moral
harmony. This, however, is difficult to maintain, and it is safer to
abide by Calvin's interpretation, and believe that what Jesus means is
that what He does will be confirmed by the Father. It is the Father's
power He introduces as the final guarantee, not His own power.

Still, although the very terms He here uses may not even by implication
affirm His Divinity, it remains to be asked whether there are not parts
of Christ's work as God's commissioner on earth which could be
accomplished by no one who was not Himself Divine. An ambassador may
recommend his offers and guar