Matthew 11:20-24

Matthew 11:20-24
20 Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 “Nevertheless 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, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. 24 “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

One day every person will stand before God and give an account for what he did with the opportunities that were given him.  God is the perfect and righteous judge who knows exactly how to judge us.  He knows what is in our hearts, all of the opportunities that we had and how we should have responded to those opportunities.  Jesus criticizes the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum because of their lack of faithful response in light of the many miracles that were performed in these cities.  Greater opportunity implies greater responsibility. All of us would do well to evaluate how we have responded to the many opportunities God has given us.

THE REASON FOR MIRACLES IS REPENTANCE: Jesus performed many miracles in the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.  The reason He performed these miracles was to promote their repentance of sin.  The miracles Jesus performed were proof of His identity as Messiah and should have confirmed His authority as a teacher before the people.  The people should have recognized their sin and repented of their sin as a result of knowing who Jesus was.  Instead their hearts were hardened and they did not repent.  Jesus affirms that the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would have repented had they been afford the same privileges.  We too have been given great exposure to the identity of Jesus and therefore ought to repent of our sin.  The more we know Jesus the more we should be convicted of our sin and be led to repentance.

THE RESULT OF MIRACLES IS RESPONSIBILITY: Greater opportunity results in greater responsibility for all of eternity.  The nations, cities and individual who had very little revelation as to who Jesus is will have a less severe judgment than those who had more revelation.  When Jesus judges, He has all of the information about who we are and how we responded to the information we had.  He also knows how we would have responded if we had received additional information.  There is no way that we will be able to deceive God or justify our responses.  This passage implies that there will be different levels of judgment in hell that will be proportionate to the opportunities people had to be exposed to the Gospel.  It would also make sense to draw the conclusion that our rewards in heaven will be proportionate to our faithfulness with the opportunities and abilities we were given.  Our eternal destinies are impacted by our response to the revelation we have received.


APPLICATION: What we know about Jesus should cause us to evaluate our lives and repent of any sin that is revealed.  Understand the responsibility we have to respond to the revelation we have received.  Prepare to be perfectly and righteously judged when we stand before the Lord.

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