#i can attest to this
girls who use “like” and “literally” in every sentence are the hottest bitches in the world
Those whom God pardons, must [nevertheless] be made to know what their sin deserved. [This will prevent us from taking lightly His mercy, by revealing the fatal nature of unpardoned sins, and the awful consequences of which we have been largely spared. A most terrible penance is that God will simply] let [us] go forward ‘as [we] are,’ [according to our own obstinate desires; despite the lack of active 'punishment’] this [leniency is] very expressive of God’s displeasure. Though He promises to make good His covenant with [us, despite our infidelity– God is still faithful–] yet [by the very nature of our willfully sinful state,] He denies [us] the tokens of His presence [we] had been blessed with [while in a state of grace. When we realize this distance, we shall mourn inconsolably] for [our] sin. Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most, God’s departure from them. [Eden] itself would be no pleasant land without the Lord’s presence! Those [of us sinners] who [would readily] part with [our money, time, and comfort] to maintain [a habitual] sin, could do no less than lay aside [the same, giving money & time & effort towards the service of God as a] token of sorrow and shame for [the wasteful error of our sins. Indeed, what good are all the riches of the world, if we have not God? No amount of earthly pleasures can ever fill the emptiness we feel when we lose the grace of His Presence; that is something only a humbled, contrite heart can hope to be graced with once more.]
Matthew Henry; Commentary on Exodus 33:3
The word ‘commandment’ often implies coercion and regimentation, and ‘obedience’ implies an unwilling or even a sulky child. In the case of God’s commands, however, a commandment is a gift, indicating the way in which love can be expressed; and obedience is a way of seeking to draw closer to God by imitation. The lover seeks to act like the beloved, to be modelled on the qualities which are loved and admired. The commands of God are not random or domineering, but are indications of the ways in which we can draw just a little nearer to the infinite qualities which are seen in the creating and redeeming God. The generosity seen in the beauties of nature and humanity, in the beauty of tolerance and forgiveness, are reflections of the divine qualities. This [humble, constant, compassionate “reflecting”] is how Jesus kept His Father’s commandments and remained in His love, and how we too may do the same.
It might even be said that Jesus needed to suffer so that we might see that God too can endure suffering. Suffering and the supreme suffering of death are human experiences which cannot [derive from] God, [nor can they be said to reflect any quality of divine perfection, for sin and death only entered the human experience through sin]. And so Jesus Himself took them on to share and ennoble these also, [transmuting death itself into a door to life– a paradox only God Himself could accomplish]. Jesus showed His love of the Father and His love of humanity by adopting and enduring the experiences which cannot touch an impassive God– [by being so touched, He proved His tender heart forever.] Such is the full meaning of the love expressed by ‘as the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.’
Dom Henry Wansbrough; Commentary on John 15:9-17
‘If you ask for bread, your heavenly Father will not give you a stone.’ The sages call this a kal va'chomer inference (i.e., קַל וְחמר, “light and weighty”), namely, that if a light condition is true, then a heavier one is certainly true. Jesus used this kind of reasoning all the time: If God cares for the needs of the birds of the air, how much more (kal va'chomer) will He care for your needs? (Matt. 6:26). If God so clothes the grass of the field, how much more (kal va'chomer) will He clothe you (Matt. 6:30)? If your heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on your head, surely He knows the state of your soul. And if God wants us to walk in righteousness, kal va'chomer does He want us to know His love. Only God can give to us the love for Him that He fully knows we so desperately need; only God can deliver us from our “disordered loves” to take hold of what is truly essential. All we can do is ask, and keep on asking- even as we struggle on, despite ourselves- until we begin to understand what we really need.It’s as if we are constantly being asked, “Is this what you want?” and our choices confess the truthof what we believe. Only God does the miracle of real change within the human heart- only God can give life from the dead!
John J. Parsons
