Sermon Tone Analysis
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Unrepentant Cities
Pay attention - there are three Galilean cities (Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida) where Jesus mentions performing “mighty works” - many miracles - a great amount/time in ministry.
Yet here we find him denouncing, reviling, being harshly critical of the cities of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida because they DID NOT REPENT.
Had Jesus done his due diligence to present the Gospel Message to the people?
Had Jesus lived a righteous life as an example to these people?
Had Jesus given them an opportunity to turn from their sinful lifestyle?
Of course, so what is the problem?
Look back to:
They simply did not want to hear His message.
Like children, choosing to ignore their parents request.
The generation is contrary, mindless, playful.
They are fault-finders who cannot be pleased.
They find fault with whatever is suggested.
They just cannot accept and be pleased with anything that puts restrictions upon their loose play.
Doesn’t that sound like us today?
I want what I want, and nobody else can tell me I need anything differently.
They want no one giving them advice, direction, criticism, anything.
And, personally, that’s what I believe happens when we raise a generation of “everyone gets an award” children.
When they get older they think they deserve something for nothing.
Because of their lack of repentance, Jesus condemns them and judgment is given.
Woe to you Chorazin, Woe to you, Bethsaida!
They were privileged to have the gospel available.
They had the presence of Christ, of believers and of the gospel.
Such exposure condemns a person if he does not respond.
Why?
Because he has the opportunity to know Christ.
They refused to repent.
A person who continues to live as he wills and refuses to turn to God condemns himself.
God demands repentance.
They ignored and neglected Christ.
Even in Jesus’ day, most people paid no attention to Him.
Note: judgment is to be based not only upon doing wrong but upon not doing right.
Just sitting around doing nothing [no gross or public sin] does not free a person from judgment.
God expects commitment and diligence in serving Christ.
The degree of judgment for the two cities is to be greater than for most.
The judgment upon the two cities will be much greater than for Tyre and Sidon.
Tyre and Sidon never had the opportunity of Christ’s ministry.
Chorazin and Bethsaida did, and they neglected and rejected Christ.
Therefore, their judgment shall be much more severe.
Note the level of judgment passed on the most privileged city, Capernaum.
It is to be even greater than the judgment upon Sodom.
Why?
Because it was the very center of the Lord’s ministry and the people still neglected and rejected Christ.
What should we take away from these verses?
There is coming a day of judgment, and there will be degrees of judgment.
Severe judgment will fall upon all who have had the opportunity to receive Christ but did not.
Our eternal state is determined by our response to Jesus Christ, and our state cannot be altered.
The doom of Tyre and Sidon could not be altered, neither could the doom of Sodom.
Their doom was set, having been determined while they were on earth.
But note: Sodom will answer for much in the day of judgment but not for having neglected Christ.
How much greater shall our judgment be because we have neglected and rejected Christ!
God forgives sin no matter how terrible.
The sins of Sodom would have been forgiven if the people had repented.
Judgment can be averted and escaped by repentance of sin.
These nations were blind to God’s truth, His will and purpose, and they were blind to the Messiah.
When Christ mentions “these things” He is speaking to the truth that the cities missed!
You see, true wisdom does NOT come from us.
It doesn’t matter how intellectual we are or how many degrees we hold we still are not wise UNTIL we recognize our need for a Savior.
Spiritual truth is hidden in God.
God has done the logical thing.
He has taken spiritual truth and locked it up in Himself.
The only access to truth is to come to Him.
The only key to spiritual truth is faith and trust in God.
It is reasonable.
The man who considers himself wise and intelligent and sufficient enough without God never comes to God.
Therefore, a personal relationship with God is never known.
The man does not come to know God nor the spiritual truth hid in God.
Ro. 1:18–22
God and His presence and His plan for the ages are foreign to the self-sufficient man.
The wise just do not believe God, not enough to come to Him.
Therefore, the things of the Spirit and of the gospel are hid from him.
But God’s heart and truths are open to the person who comes in dependency and trust.
What Christ condemns is not intelligence and wisdom but intellectual pride and self-sufficiency.
God made man to think, reason, seek, and search in order to discover and build.
But God expects man not to think of himself too highly.
A person is to walk humbly during their short stay on earth, knowing from whom they have come and to whom they are going.
We simply are to trust God, and put our time and destiny in God’s hands.
By resting in our own wisdom, God is helpless in revealing the truth.
Christ paints two pictures in this passage.
One picture is of extreme weariness.
This is the person who has gone as far as he can; he can go no farther—he cannot take another step.
The other picture is of extreme pressure.
This is the person who is about to explode; he cannot take anymore.
Christ does not say what caused the weariness or pressure (heavy burdens).
It does not matter, for His invitation is open to all.
It is a simple invitation, requiring so little and offering so much.
The first great invitation to this generation is “Come unto me.”
Who is to come?
The weary and the burdened—the person who is laboring, heavy laden, exhausted, despairing, weighed down, ready to stop and collapse.
What causes us to become weary?
(work, the world, sin, guilt, money/material possessions, notoriety, power, rules, regulations, etc.)
Listen to me closely here.
Not knowing the truth of life is one of the major causes of exhaustion.
Searching for truth but never coming to the truth discourages, exasperates, exhausts, and burdens us.
It causes us to whip ourselves in conscience, and it leaves us empty, uncertain, and insecure about the future.
Why should the weary and the heavy laden come to Christ?
Very simply, Christ will give them rest.
Christ will give rest to the struggling and despairing soul and to the empty and lonely soul—no matter how intense the struggle and despair or the emptiness and loneliness.
The answer to rest is coming to Jesus Christ.
Rest is available, but we have to come to Jesus Christ in order to receive the rest of God.
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