{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-5371","native_reference":{"book_number":150,"chapter_from":7,"chapter_to":7,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":10,"verse_to":10},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Bede</b>: For Ezra had prepared his heart, etc. Oh, what great virtue of this saying, what sublimity of merit, for a man to prepare his heart for the obedience of the divine will, and to be able to say: \"My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing, and I will chant a psalm to the Lord\" (Psalm LVI)! That is, I will exult in the Lord with my whole soul, and I will accomplish in the execution of works what has been commanded by Him. Therefore, he prepared his heart to investigate and rewrite the law of the Lord, which the devouring flame had consumed. He also prepared so that he himself might first fulfill this by doing, and thus open his mouth to teach others. This can similarly be understood of the Lord Jesus; for He prepared His heart to investigate the law of the Lord, as He divinely provided for Himself a man He would take up, who would not only be without sin but also full of grace and truth, because with no law of sin conflicting in Him, He would keep the law of God without any contradiction of mind or flesh. Hence, He says in the Psalm: \"In the volume of the book it is written of me: I desired to do your will, O my God, and your law is in the midst of my heart\" (Psalm XXXIX). Likewise, the Lord investigated the law of God, because, setting aside the traditions of the Pharisees, He taught how the Holy Scripture was to be understood mystically, what spiritual secrets were hidden under the cover of the letter; because He showed that the decrees of the Gospel, which He brought to the world, were more perfect, more acceptable to God the Father, than those He had previously sent through Moses. Hence, He Himself says: \"You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy': but I say to you, love your enemies;\" and so forth.<br/><i>— Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"e1aea2dfaab7a7b5c53c1de053f16d093bcb32434e60ddc76778dcd7d6b6a836","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":5371,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"ccd78e244cb51fde812620718a74c7f0277024c200fe301309874cee3c38601a","translator":null,"work":null}