The Brown Book Commentaries

PAGE 82
―Be wondrously Awe-filled over the smooth suddenness of It all.‖ ~ anonymous
If we are deeply immersed in the majesty of any moment, then we cannot help but be attentively
amazed by the wondrous Beauty of the same … And if we are deeply amazed by the deep Beauty of
any set of circumstances, we cannot ever be shocked by anything that flows to us through them …
Will we be surprised therein – surprised by the ever-greater wonders we witness or the ever-deeper
acts of Love available to us? Of course we will – and yet these realizations will not ever startle us or
shock us. Indeed, the more deeply we immerse ourselves into any moment the more we will Love
the same and everything in it … And the more profoundly we choose to Love any moment the less
we can know any fear of any facet thereof … Opportunities to act Lovingly do often come suddenly
therein, and yet their flashing arrival is always a smooth one – as though the surprise of Love‘s everdeepening
magnitude is the norm – as though we are sitting there waiting for it to tap us on the
shoulder, and smile gently upon us while softly whispering ―Boo‖.
“God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but rather that the world
might be saved by his Way.” ~ Jesus (John 3:17)
If Jesus is arrogantly speaking in the 3 rd person here – if he is indeed speaking about himself (in
direct contradiction of his own teachings about God and worship and humility – see Matthew 18:3-
4, Matthew 23:12, Mark 10:18, John 12:44-47, John 14:20 et al), then even so he must be
professing a profound gentleness thereby – a perfect Love that is perfectly in harmony with the
Love of his heavenly Father (see Matthew 5:48) and a perfectly non-condemning nature in
alignment with the prefect Love of the same (see 1 John 4:18) … That having been said, in all
likelihood that is not what Jesus is saying here. In all likelihood (if we are going to do him the
most honor with our interpretations of his words) Jesus is speaking not of himself as the Son, but
rather is speaking of ―the Son of Man‖ within all of us (see Matthew 8:20, Matthew 9:6, Matthew
16:28, Matthew 26:64 et al). Indeed, ―the Son of Man‖ was a term that was almost exclusively
used by the authors of the ancient manuscripts to refer to all of humanity – not solely to Jesus
Christ. As such, when read in this more Christ-appropriate context, Jesus is saying here that God
did not send us into the world to condemn the world, but rather sent us into the world to be a
source of salvation – via courageous acts of Love (see John 13:15-17, John 12:44-47, John 14:12
et al) – for those living therein.
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