Keeping Quiet

Matthew 11:20-24

keeping quiet!

Works?

Matthew 11:20-24, Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” Our Lord expected people to respond to His message, and to properly respond. Our Lord has called for them to hear, but while calling, He recognizes that most do not hear.

It is basic to biblical truth that men must respond that men must react, that men are given a choice when confronted with the truth of God.

• To hear it,
• To believe it,
• To act on it, or
• To reject it.

By the time we come to chapter 11 of Matthew, we have had ten chapters of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, in chapters 11 and 12, Matthew records for us the various kind of responses to Christ. First response is honest doubt.

Honest doubt was really that response that characterized John the Baptist. He believed, and yet he had some doubt, and so, the Lord dealt with that. Honest doubt can occur even in the case of a believer, as it did with John.

He is going to speak of two other responses to Christ that are very common. V 16-19 V 20-24

• Criticism, and
• Indifference.
• What men do, and
• What men don’t do.

A man or a woman can be damned to hell just as much by what they do not do as by what they do. When you look ahead to the ultimate great white throne judgment, it is certain that some people are going to say as a defence, “I never did anything.” That will be their condemnation.

They never did anything. He launches in to these two chapters, describing all the negative ways in which His generation responded to Him. The transition between verse 19 and 20 involves a dramatic change in the way Jesus spoke to those who beheld Him in His public ministry.

He turns from expressing Himself as the meek and lowly "Teacher", to expressing Himself as the strong and stern "Judge"of all those who rejected His teaching.

The gentleness is gone when you come to verse 20. There’s almost a line of demarcation between those two verses. Something dramatic changes, and judgment begins to come with fury in verse 20. This, of course, accelerates the events that lead to the people crucifying Christ.

Now, what men didn’t do. It is so important for you to realize that what people don’t do is enough to condemn them.

Matthew 7:26-27, “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Why was that man lost in judgment? Because he heard and did not do. Just not doing it was sufficient. People do not have to do something to go to hell, but they just have to do nothing to go to hell. Think about Josiah’s revival. He brought back the Word of God to the people.

2 Kings 22:13, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” Matthew 22, the Lord is likening His Kingdom to a wedding, and sinners are being called to the marriage feast.

Matthew 22:4-7, Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

What happens to people in far-away lands who do not get to hear the gospel? What about those who never get a chance to hear about Jesus and believe on Him?

What is God's plan for them? That's a good question.

I am not sure that we can really know the answer to full satisfaction. I am comforted by the affirmation that the Bible.

Genesis 18:25, Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I may not know in a complete way what God's plan will be on the day of judgment for those people in other lands who haven't heard the gospel.

But I know that God is a merciful and good God. I am confident that, when all the facts are in, He will prove to have judged all people throughout the world in a way that is just and fair according to the light they had, and what they did with it.

No one will be able to accuse Him of injustice. I believe that this passage reminds us of that fact. I DO know with absolute certainty one aspect of God's plan for those in far-away lands who have not heard about Jesus. That is, that you and I must work to get the gospel message to them and make sure they do get the opportunity to hear!

But this passage answers another question one that most people aren't so eager to ask. It seems to me that the Lord is forcing upon us the question. What happens to people who have had lots of opportunities to hear the gospel?

What about those who receive an abundance of opportunities to hear about Jesus, to respond to His call, and to receive His saving grace and yet, in the end, refuse to respond to the opportunities as they should? What about those who clearly perceive who Jesus is?

Who clearly hear about His mighty works, and His call, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"

Yet, who still do not to repent?

What is God's plan for them? I don't very often hear people asking that question. When it comes to our own culture, it is a far more relevant question than the other! Our Lord answers it for us in this passage. His answer is a surprising and sobering one indeed!

Here, the King of kings and Lord of lords teaches us that, to behold His great works, and not respond with repentance, is to

bring even more severe judgment upon ourselves than if we had never heard at all! Many may not be happy to preach this kind of sermon, but I should preach on it. If I did not, then I would not be true to God's word. But to gain a proper perspective of this very hard rebuke from the lips of our Lord among one of the hardest rebukes.

Jesus came to His own people, knowing in advance that they would not receive Him or His message. He even told His disciples, before He sent them out.

Matthew 10:22, And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. So much of His instructions to them concerned the fact that they would be persecuted, hated, and rejected for their association with Him. Of course, here in this passage, we see that He finally condemns His own people for their rejection of Him.

But even though He knew of this rejection in advance, we need to notice that He didn't begin His public ministry to His own people by bringing a sever rebuked down upon them.

Instead, He began with mercy.

• He healed them,
• He taught them,
• He was kind towards them,
• He was good and
• He was gentle toward them.

When He looked out upon them, He was moved with compassion for them.

Matthew 9:36, But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

When we glimpse ahead in the story, we find that even when He finally drew near Jerusalem would then crucify Him. He looked over it and wept.

Matthew 23:37-39, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” Jesus was compassionate.

He never compromised His fundamental message of the call to repentance. But He always first issued that call in the context of mercy. Not first in the harshness of a rebuke. His rebuke was proceeded by much mercy and grace.

Sometimes, we preachers are a little too eager to bang on the pulpit and shout out rebukes. But this causes me to think that we should be very careful about doing that! Shouting and banging is not the way our Saviour and Lord first presents Himself.

We shouldn't hesitate to rebuke the sin of hardness toward the gospel, and of unrepentance toward sin, when it's time to do so. But our Lord's example teaches us that the time to do rebuke is after a good measure of grace, mercy, and compassion had been first put into action.

That's our Saviour’s way with sinners. What do we learn about those before whose eyes our Saviour’s great works are displayed?

1. Repentance

The intention of the display of great work is repentance. V 20, Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: Those initial words mark-out for us that a new time had come.

Something new began to be done that had not been happening before. He began to rebuke the cities in which His mighty works had been done. He rebukes those cities that had a great and rare privilege. Jesus had walked bodily in them and publicly did many great and mighty works in the midst of them.

They have seen enough to know forgiving sin, casting out demons, raising the dead, etc., The reason that He rebuked them is because they saw all these things, they did not repent because of what they saw. They have not repented, and so He moves to the statement of His judgment. The wrath of the Lamb, as gracious as the Son of

God is in His friendship with sinners, so fierce is He in His denunciation of those who will not acknowledge their sin. It is holy anger. It is holy fury that you see in this passage. Matthew mentions the cities in which most of His mighty works were done. The Galilean cities, where His Galilean ministry had taken place.

"Repent". We tend to have an idea that comes to mind when we hear that word and it's usually an idea that involves a radical change of behaviour. A radical turning away from sin. I believe that a change of behaviour is included in the idea of "repent"but that the word as it's being used in this verse means much more than just that.

The word itself, in the original language is the result of putting two Greek words together. The word Metanoeõ Meta, which means "with" Nous, which means "the understanding", or "the mind", or "the attitude of heart", or even "the opinion".

The combination of those two words gives the idea of "understand after"or "with"and thus, the word metanoeõ came to mean,

• "to change one's mind"or
• "understanding"or
• "attitude of heart"or
• "opinion".

It usually involved the idea of "remorse"or "regret"for having had the wrong thinking in the first place. "Repentance", then, certainly involves the idea of a change of action. A change on the outside. But it first involves a change of attitude - a change on the inside.

This word is found in the invitation Jesus gives.

Matthew 11:28-30, Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” I suggest that "to repent"- in this context - means much more than simply changing one's behaviour.

It means that, from the heart, you have seen who Jesus is and what He is like. You have come to understand that by His glorious works. He has proven Himself to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Now, understanding that truth, you cease from trying to live independently of His rightful lordship over you. You take Him up on His invitation and you "come to Him"as a sinner who is labouring and heavy laden under the burden of your own sin. Trust in His cross as the payment for those sins.

Instead of trying to go your own way, you "take His yoke upon you"instead - which is an expression of willing submission to His lordship over your life. You "learn from Him"which is an expression of a willingness to become His disciple and to be taught by Him how to live.

In short, "to repent"would mean that you change your mind toward Jesus.

• You cease to be independent of Him.
• You surrender to Him from the heart.
• You become one of His totally devoted followers.
• You cease to make yourself the central, controlling authority of your life.
• You yield your life to His lordship.

Obviously, this will involve a change of action. You will, by necessity, must turn away from sin. You will change in your behaviour. But it is, first and foremost, a change of mind - a change of attitude. Jesus performed many works and miracles before the people of His own land. They enjoyed the benefit of it. They marvelled at His works. The flocked around to watch them occur.

But they didn't change their minds about Him.

• They didn't repent of their independent attitudes of heart.
• They didn't cease from counting on their own righteousness to earn God's favour.
• They didn't turn from their own ways, thoughts, and independent spirits.

• They didn't come to Him as Saviour or take His yoke upon themselves as their Lord.
• They didn't seek to learn from Him how He wanted them to live.

The same thing happens in church. Some people can attend church for years.

• They can know and love and sing all the old hymns.
• They can enjoy the fellowship.
• They can watch with delight the things that God does in the lives of others.
• They can even grow to know the Bible well.
• They can behold His marvellous and great works - both in hearing them taught, and in seeing them displayed before their very eyes.

Yet, they can do it all without ever surrendering themselves to the Lord Jesus. They can look at it all with a disconnected interest as if from afar and still remain the same on the inside. They can enjoy being "consumers"of the good things that church has to offer yet never truly repent from within the heart.

This passage teaches us that the intention of Jesus'mighty works being displayed among people was to bring them to the place of genuine repentance. They would change their minds toward Him, allow Him to save them, and become His obedient followers from then on.

The purpose and the intention of it all is repentance!

Titus 2:11-14, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Let us be honest about the situation. Have you come to the point in your life where you have truly experienced a heart-felt "repentance"? Have you "changed your mind"about Jesus Christ, and are you now surrendered to Him as your Saviour and Lord? If not, then you have spent all this time encountering Him in the pages of Scripture and in the preaching of the gospel and have badly missed the whole point!

May God lead us to respond to the mighty works of Christ with genuine “repentance"! May we obey His clear call: "Repent...!" What Jesus goes on to say in His severe rebuke. V 21-22, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

Chorazin was a city along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee 2 and half miles from Capernaum, where Jesus lived and ministered. Bethsaida is a little more north and a little more west, out in the plain of Gennesaret, above the Sea of Galilee. It was the hometown of Philip, and it was the place that Andrew and Peter originally came out of.

Jesus had done His miracles, in that little village. With Capernaum as His headquarters, those miracles had spread everywhere. He had apparently done mighty works in those cities even though we have no record of them in the Scriptures. The Bible

suggests to us elsewhere that there were many works that Jesus did which are not recorded for us in the Gospel accounts.

John 20:30, And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;

These works in these two cities are among them. These cities were privileged. Jesus walked in them in person and performed mighty works in them. But these cities also received a severe rebuke from the Saviour because the people living in them did not repent because of those works.

So, Jesus compares these cities with two other cities notorious cities in the Old Testament times as proverbial enemies of the people of Israel. Jesus lets the people of Chorazin, and Bethsaida know that if the same works that had been done in them had been done in Tyre and Sidon instead, those two notorious cities would have repented!

In the minds of a Galilean Jew, the two most wretched cities were Tyre and Sidon historically. They were in that same area, only over a few miles to the coast. They were the cities of the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were the maritime people, the commercial people, the sailors, the colonizers, in many ways, of the Mediterranean area.

Those seaports were everything that a seaport is. All the sailors who had been at sea for months, and even years, brought in their adulterous immoralities and fornications. Those two cities were deep in the pit of Baal worship.

The cities were immoral as far as you could imagine. They were Gentile, pagan, heathen societies, and God destroyed them. In Isaiah 23, and in Ezekiel 26, 27 and 28, we learn that the commercial seamen and the colonizing Phoenicians of those two cities were proud.

We learn that they were greedy, avaricious, cruel people. Amos denounces them in his prophecy.

Amos 1:9-10, Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. 10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, Which shall devour its palaces.” Because they actually captured Jews and sold Jews into slavery.

Joel tells us they sold Israelites to the Greeks. Amos says they sold them to the Edomites. Jeremiah says that God will pour out the winepress of wrath on them.

Jeremiah 25:22, all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are across the sea;

Jeremiah 47:4, Because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines, To cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains; For the Lord shall plunder the Philistines, The remnant of the country of Caphtor. So, the prophets really denounced the vile wretchedness of those two cities. In the Galilean area, a byword for vile places, and that’s why God destroyed them.

They could be compared to the wicked Babylon of Revelation 17 to 19, commercial and corrupt, immoral, idolatrous, pagan, pleasure-mad, proud, wicked, and worthy of extinction. They would have repented long ago and would not have become considered the notorious enemies of Israel that they were known as in history.

In fact, they would have repented to the greatest possible extremity - that is, to repent in "sackcloth and ashes". This was another way you expressed your sorrow. That is not necessarily a biblical custom. It was an oriental one. But Job did it.

Job 42:6, Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Now perhaps, when Jesus spoke these words against Chorazin and Bethsaida, the people of Capernaum were listing in and nodding their heads. Perhaps they thought of their city as an esteemed and elevated city far above the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida.

Because Jesus Himself lived in Capernaum and performed so many of His works there. The citizens of Capernaum were

proud of being able to claim that Jesus was their own "celebrity"citizen. They imagined that they were sure to be exalted to heaven. After all, on the sign along the road that said "Welcome to beautiful Capernaum"it said in bold letters below, "Hometown of Jesus - the worker of many mighty wonders!"

But Jesus then turned to them and said something utterly unexpected. V 23-24, And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

Far from destined to being exalted to heaven, Capernaum was doomed to be cast down to hell! Capernaum was guiltiest of all, so Capernaum becomes the supreme illustration. Jesus had performed those mighty works before their very eyes and yet, they did not repent because of what they saw.

Capernaum, that little fishing village. Capernaum, where the Lord made His home during His Galilean ministry. Capernaum, where all the disciples mingled with the people, and where the Lord did so many miracles.

• He healed the nobleman’s son.
• He healed the demoniac in the synagogue.
• He raised Peter’s mother-in-law.
• He healed the paralytic carried through the roof.
• He healed Jairus daughter.
• He healed women with issue of Blood.

In fact, Jesus gives them the greatest shock of all. He mentions Sodom - a city notorious to the extreme in the Old Testament for its wickedness.

What is the worst ancient city? Anyone will answer as Sodom. A city that came to be proverbial because of how God destroyed it for its sinfulness. God rain fire and brimstone on Sodom, a city was populated by a whole group of homosexuals.

They tried to rape angels.

When they were struck blind, instead of running in terror, it just made it more difficult for them to find the door. To a Jew, Sodom was the worst. Sodom was the city that God wouldn’t visit. God and two angels visited Abraham, but when the two angels showed up at Sodom, God wasn’t there.

He lets the people of Capernaum know that if the same mighty works that had been done in their city had been done in Sodom instead, Sodom would have remained as a city even to that very day. Instead of having been destroyed by God.

The key theme in all of this is the failure to respond to the call for repentance. The intention of those displays of Jesus'mighty works among His own people was that they would then respond with that very repentance that was called for.

They did not.

2. Reveals Sovereign Choice

The choice of who accepts His works is a mystery of God’s sovereign grace. Do you notice in this that, as the divine Son of God, Jesus knows perfectly how other people groups in other times would have responded to His mighty works?

He says that if those works had been performed long ago in the ancient, pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. It would have resulted in a marvellous spiritual revival.

What about Sodom? God had once made the promise that if only ten righteous people could have been found in it, He would not have destroyed it.

Genesis 18:32, Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

But the only righteous people that could be found were Lot and his tiny family. Today, the ruins of Sodom cannot even be found.

Yet, Jesus lets us know that if His mighty works had been performed in that wicked city, the people living in it then would have been spared destruction. The city of Sodom would have remained even until the day Jesus spoke these words.

As the Son of God, Jesus knew perfectly how those people, living centuries before that time, would have responded to His works! Yet in the wisdom of the Father the very works of Jesus that would have led them to repentance were not revealed to them.

Instead, those same works were revealed to people who would not repent. What a mystery of God's sovereignty this is! I believe that the only way that we can understand this is by what Jesus says next.

Matthew 11:25-27, At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed

good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. It's not for us to ask why Christ isn't revealed more often to people who will respond.

That's a matter of God's sovereign choice. Instead, we need to realize the fact that His mighty works have been revealed to us. Once we do, the question becomes, "What a privileged time I live in! I know of His works! But what have I done with the fact that Jesus'mighty works have been revealed to me?

Have I responded with true repentance? Have I trusted Him?"

3. Reveals our hearts. It reveals the character of our hearts. Chorazin and Bethsaida saw His works. Capernaum saw them too. They had an advantage over all the cities and people groups that have existed in history, because they saw Jesus and beheld His mighty works with their own eyes and in their very midst.

Others who did not see what they saw would have repented if they had. But these who saw what others were not granted to see did not repent. The character of one's heart is not revealed by the having the privilege of seeing the mighty works of Jesus with one's own eyes.

Today, it's not the possession of many Bibles and an abundance of the preaching of the gospel that reveals our character. Rather, it’s the impact those things have on our hearts that makes the difference and reveals the truth about us.

These cities thought that they were elevated to the heavens because of what they were privileged to see. But Jesus let them know that they stand condemned. Not because of what they saw, but because of what they did not do because of what they saw.

Later, in this Gospel Jesus said.

Matthew 12:41-42, The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

These never saw Jesus'mighty works. They saw lesser works of God through Jonah and Solomon. Yet, they responded with genuine repentance and a true seeking after God because of what they saw. Their response to what they saw revealed the character of what was truly in their hearts.

Yet, those of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum who had a clearer blessing from God. The blessing of seeing the mighty

works of Jesus first-hand and did not respond with genuine repentance. Their response revealed the character of what was in their hearts. We have the testimony of Jesus in an even clearer way than they did. What does our response reveal to be the condition of our hearts?

4. Consequences. The verdict upon those who do not repent at His works is condemned. Jesus uses a word "Ouai!" It means "Alas!"or "Woe!" It's an expression of deep sorrow and compassion. Jesus is saying, "How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida!"

"What horrors await you...!"(The Living Translation.) What a chilling thing for anyone to say but how much more chilling when it is the Son of God who says it!

Capernaum

Was "exalted to heaven", "will be cast down to Hades." Far from exalted to the highest place, it would be instead thrust down to the lowest! When we realize that these words are spoken in the context of Capernaum receiving greater judgment than Sodom the city that was utterly destroyed by fire and brimstone falling upon it from the very heavens.

We can only say, "What horrible judgment is it that awaits Capernaum at the day of judgment? What unspeakable woe?" This underscores the dreadful seriousness of failing to respond to the works of Jesus as we should. Those works reveal His identity and His authority.

To not respond with repentance from sin, and with a sincere trust in Him, is to disregard the Judge of all the earth and then to be destined to stand before Him in judgment! If they do not repent, then the severity of punishment will be harder.

Jesus says to Chorazin and to Bethsaida, "But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you."

Jesus says to Capernaum, "But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." The reason is because Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom could not repent! They never heard. But Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum heard much - and saw much and yet, never repented.

• It means that the Judge of all the earth will do what is right and just toward those who sinned but never heard.
• But it also means that He will do what is right and just toward those who heard and refused to repent!
• It means that the experience of Jesus'presence without, repentance of heart, brings a greater damnation upon the soul than will be experienced by those who sinned but never heard.
• This means that there will be those who this world now admires and applauds for their outward show of religion but who will then be a cause of inexpressible astonishment and horror in the day of judgment.

Because, in spite of all their outward religion, they did not and would not repent in their hearts. It means that there will be those on that great day of judgment who knew of Jesus mighty works but who did not repent when they could who will then wish that they had been among those who had never heard at all!

Question to ask is not, "What about those who never get a chance to hear about Jesus and believe on Him?" The real question that the Lord makes us ask is, "What about those of us who have lots of chances to hear but who refuse to do what we should do with what we hear, and repent from the heart?"

We stand in an even greater place of advantage than the people who heard Him speak these words. The truth of who Jesus is and what He has done has been presented to us in a far clearer way than even those who heard Him speak these words.

Because we have those things recorded and explained fully for us in the pages of Scripture.

Conclusion.

We never read that Capernaum hated Jesus. We never read that Capernaum rioted against Jesus. We never read that Capernaum persecuted Jesus. We never read of any eruption, like in Nazareth or Jerusalem. The sin of these flourishing places was not violence. It wasn’t the sin of sensuality. It was just indifference.

There is no record that they opposed Christ, or mocked Him, or ridiculed Him. They just didn’t pay any attention to Him. People are going to stand someday before the judgment seat and say, “But I never did anything.” Therein will be their severest condemnation.

Every hearer of the New Testament truth is either much happier or much more wretched than the men who lived before Christ’s coming. The works that Jesus did should have stopped those people in their tracks - like the works and the message of Jonah stopped Nineveh in its tracks, and it repented - but it didn’t. They did not repent.

So, I would just suggest to you that if you are rejecting Jesus Christ, you ought to turn around, and get out of here, and away from anything that represents Him, as fast as you can, because you will only aggravate your guilt, which will deepen the pit of your eternal punishment.

I say that because God cares about you. The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility. No cities were ever more privileged than the cities of Galilee. The incarnate Son of God had walked their dusty roads. He had taught their favoured people.

What will you do with the mighty works of Jesus that the Scriptures tell us about? The best thing to do is make sure you have responded to the offer He has made after issuing the words of this sharp rebuke.

Matthew 11:28-30,"Come unto Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" To obey those words from the heart that's a true response of repentance!