In the book of Matthew in Chapter 11 and in Luke 10 we see Jesus Christ rebuking 3 distinct towns located in northern Israel, they were Chorazin Bethsaida and Capernaum. This is the only time you see Jesus Christ openly condemning entire towns for their behavior. Even going as far as saying that Sodom and Gomorrah, will have a better time in judgment than they will. What exactly was happening and why?

These three towns were highly religious centers of their day and the entire cultures were centered around the Jewish customs of the period. They were also the three towns where some of Jesus’s specific miracles were performed. Miracles that literally change the lives of citizens in these places. But to the leaders there they were less than impressed and even condemned Jesus for those miracles he performed. They remained in a state of unrepentance that persisted beyond Jesus’s life on earth. In response he condemned them for their actions for all time and the account was written in the bible. Today those towns are nothing like what they were. They were destroyed within years of Jesus’s condemnation. Today the ruins remain as a testament to their behavior.

The account in the bible of his rebuking takes an interesting direction when he enters into a prayer found in Matthew 11:

5 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

When God looks at a man he sees the heart. Sometimes there are those so prideful, arrogant and unrepentant that He will not reveal His truth to them. Instead, he looks for those who are lower and humble. Those who are teachable and repentant so that he reveals His truth to them so they can have changed lives.

Though the Gospel was to be preached to the entire world the fact remains it was not meant for everyone. Those people in those towns experienced the living Jesus and His miracles and it did not change them. Others saw it and through those miracles were changed forever. In James 4:6, James restates the recurring condition when he said God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. God through His grace chooses who he wills and rejects the others as part of His grace. It may seem unfair but for God it is His gift to give and he decides who will get it. It is by this that no man can save Himself but only if God wills them to be saved. That’s one thing that truly inspires joy in those who belong to Him.

In Christ always,            

Steve Koenig

Lakeshore Fellowship