What does John 17:12 mean about keeping the disciples?

In John 17:12, Jesus declares, 'While I was with them, I kept them in thy name.' This highlights His protective nature over His disciples, emphasizing that He actively guarded them and sustained their faith. The phrase 'those that thou gavest me, I have kept' indicates the divine authority and responsibility bestowed upon Christ by the Father. Crucially, He notes that 'none of them is lost, but the son of perdition,' which refers to Judas Iscariot, indicating Judas was never truly one of Christ's flock. This reinforces the idea of eternal security for the elect; those truly given to Christ will not perish, aligning with the sovereign grace principle that God preserves His chosen ones.