“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth
and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 16
“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 17
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” 21
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious
will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” 23
Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Jesus made it clear that the people would reject him. He spoke like this often so that his disciples would not be surprised at what they encountered. This is the Lord’s
way. He is not interested in surprising us; telling us one thing only to find out half way down the road that there were a bunch of other aspects of our following Him that he conveniently left out. We see before our eyes that the rejection of Christ came from
the people who had witnessed his miracles and listened to his sermons more than any other group of people.
Korazin is only mentioned in this context in the gospels. Jesus spent much time in this place and many of the things he did were done right there. Philip, Andrew and
Peter all came from Bethsaida so that town knew or should have known about Jesus and what He was doing. They had hometown boys among the disciples. Capernaum was THE place for the Lord’s ministry in Galilee, the witness of many miracles and the audience for
many sermons. In Matthew 9, Capernaum is called Jesus’ own city.
Imagine the shock, just how these folks would have been aghast when Jesus says that the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon, which were notorious in the OT for their idolatry
and their unabashed arrogance, would have it better in the judgment day than would these cities! Jesus says these ancient pagan cities would have repented long ago if they would have had done in them what Jesus had been doing in these other cities mentioned.
Jesus is doing the same thing that the prophets of old did. He points to Israel’s advantages, her knowledge of truth, her position gifted her by God, and these things make her unbelief and rebellion more culpable than the pagans!
In essence Jesus is saying, “You all look down on the pagans and their cities. You look down on those who lived in Tyre and Sidon, but if they would have seen and
heard what you see and hear, they would have repented, they would have believed. “So, how wicked and hard-hearted must you people be? What does that say about you who pride yourself on your holiness and piety?”
Jesus knows the truth, that despite public enthusiasm for His ministry, mainly due to the miracles people were seeing, there was from the beginning a general unwillingness
to truly follow Him and to acknowledge who He really was. They like to talk about Jesus, they like to listen to Jesus, they liked to marvel at what must have been nothing but tricks to them. Not unlike many today. Jesus can be a topic of discussion and some
will even marvel at his teachings and kindness to people in need. But they only want to go so far…why is that do you suppose?
Jesus is telling us that what we know as human history will conclude with judgment. This judgment will see every human being, brought before the very face of God,
beholding God in all His glory, majesty and honor to receive what is due them. Remember, no one speaks about this judgment more than Jesus does. And the fact that He is coming again, that He is coming in judgment is the centerpiece of the faithful church.
It is the centerpiece of our hope. It is what informs our ethics, how we live. It is what motivates and empowers us in the midst of trial, suffering and persecution. It is why we seek purity, because we know He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
The self-righteous people whom Jesus is addressing would have thought themselves to be safe in the world to come. They thought they were pious, god-fearing people
who had no reason to doubt their acceptance in the eternal kingdom of God. And look what Jesus does! He in effect, pulls their shirt up over their heads and spins them around. He makes sure there is no confusion, no misunderstanding his words. They will not
be able to say, “Oh no that is not what he meant, he really meant…” He tells them that it is going to be WORSE for them because of their arrogant self-confidence. They too will face judgment and those who they thought to be so horrible will be better off
than will they. They will face this judgment however, and here is the rub, they will not face it according to THEIR standards of justice, but according to God’s. And this is the point that mankind wishes would just go away.
When you look around at all this world does and is…when you consider the rampant evil, wickedness, hatred that mankind bestows on the earth and on other people…Some
things some evil, we would be wrong to even repeat…we would be inviting the pollution of our souls to dwell on it; Don’t you think that this justice is in fact, the right thing? It is right for us to expect, even to demand, that the wicked be punished. And
when we hear of someone who somehow escapes the justice that should have been his or hers, we are outraged! What is the world coming to, we say, this just isn’t right! And shouldn’t we be so outraged?
The problem you see, is a bit more specific than that, even as it is in this text. The problem isn’t that men are averse to justice, but that so many people think
they are righteous when they are not. So many think they not only will escape such punishment, but they actually believe that they deserve to be free of it, that justice will find them in the good. Again, the people in this text, like many today, believe in
judgment and in fact, demand justice, and in fact those in Capernaum believed there was a last judgment. What they did NOT believe was that there would be any problem for them in being acquitted in that judgment. Why is that? Because the standard of justice,
of right, of holiness is assumed to be that which they have created in their own imaginations and minds, it is according to their own wants and thinking, not God’s. This idea that, “Ok, there may be a last judgment, but it is nothing to worry about, nothing
to fear, nothing that should dictate one’s approach to life or that needs to be prepared for, after all, all dogs go to heaven.” This is the very kind of thinking Jesus is putting to rest.
Read carefully these words from my mentor, Rob Rayburn as they so perfectly sum up the admonition that we are to draw from Christ’s teaching in our text this morning:
“If what Christ says is true, then nothing, nothing in all your life matters nearly so much as making sure that the judgment day will find you at peace with God
and enjoying his favor and receiving his acquittal and His approval. Nothing is so important as that. No sorrows you bear here, no pleasure you enjoy, no accomplishments, no failures. See the day of judgment looming over you and your future and everything
is immediately put in its proper place. You cannot live your life the same way. You cannot think about things the same way. There is a world, an eternal world beyond this one. The last judgment separates this world from that and separates all human beings
into two groups: those who will rejoice in that coming world and those who will mourn. Jesus is warning us all not to assume that we are in the happy group but to make sure.”
The seventy return from being sent out and they are ecstatic. They have proclaimed the Kingdom and have found that when they use the name of Jesus in faith, even
the demons of hell do as they are told. They are beginning to understand that they speak and act on behalf of their Savior and in the power of their Savior. The church will carry on the work of the Savior and the Lord is making sure this is driven home to
them. Jesus tells them that He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. What Jesus saw echoes the prophetic visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Jesus sees the heavenly realities which corresponded to the earthly victories won by the 70 who speak in His name.
(NT Wright)
This is part of the great victory begun in the desert that will be finished at the cross and the empty tomb. Satan’s demise and the church plays her part, the church
takes up that kingdom in the name of Christ and the gates of hell will not prevail against us. And with all that being the case where does Jesus take them? He encourages them, and tells them that they have authority in Him, they will do great things, in and
by the name of Jesus. And of course, we know that those great things will see most of them martyred…they will do great things as they lose their lives as they die that they might live. But as Jesus encourages them and strengthens them, he inasmuch
returns to the ultimate point, the positive to the warning that we have spent our morning looking at. “…do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Don’t get too filled up with what you are doing! That is wonderful, but remember the most important thing; that in the judgment you will be found, holy…you will be
found pleasing to the Father, for your faith and your trust in the Father’s Son. The point is not what you do, the point is what has been done for you. Even in the midst of great things done, don’t get lost in all of that, be glad, rejoice, but make sure
your foundation is set in the grace and mercy of God that has written your name in the heavenly city.
Prayer: Father, what a humbling truth for me to think on, that Christ Jesus has endured the judgement that was rightly mine! Oh, what love and mercy have I received!
Help me Father to see what a joy and what a life I have been given by grace and keep, I pray, my eyes fixed, not on what I am doing, but what Jesus has accomplished for me, I pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: All Ye that Fear Jehovah’s Name
