In Matthew 11:20-24, we read of Jesus lamenting over the cities of Chorazin (Khirbet Keraseh) and Bethsaida, cities where He had worked miracles and wonders. Jesus had opened the eyes of the blind (Mk. 8:22-26), fed five-thousand men, plus women and children (Lk. 9:10-17), and performed so many other signs that the gospel accounts did not record. But the subsequent lack of faith, the disbelief, broke the heart of Jesus. What do I mean here by “lack of faith”? Faith that Jesus could do miracles? No, there was plenty of that kind of “faith”. In fact, people were more than entertained by His wondrous works. It was like a magician had entered their midst, to “ooh” and “aah” their senses. At least, that is how Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, had loosely put it when referring to the public (unbelieving) perception of Jesus. The people were after the works, the signs, the wonders, they could care less of Jesus’ message. And what was the message? The message He delivered since the beginning of His earthly ministry: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). The signs, the wonders, the healings, they were not the central point of Jesus’ ministry; they were supplemental to the central point. They were signs that validated who Jesus was and the message He came to deliver. To put it simply, the signs and wonders of Jesus accompanied His gospel message, not the other way around. They served the purpose of the content of His message, of His ministry, but the people of these cities were disinterested in the message, they were only after the signs (Cf. Matt. 12:39). They wanted to be wowed, not saved. They wanted to be entertained, not preached to. They wanted to be spectators, not partakers in the kingdom. And thus the lack of faith I refer to here is the lack of “repentance” as verse 21 mentions, the fruit that comes from saving faith. They did not want to recognize the severity of their own sin, nor their need for a Saviour, and for this reason, Jesus expresses His lament. “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 in sackcloth and ashes” (Matt. 11:21). It is worth noting that Capernaum is later included in this list of cities, in verse 23. “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades…” (v. 23a).
One might be tempted to think that Jesus’ words were meant in an angry or vengeful tone, and He had every right to be angry, but that is not the case here. According to New Testament scholar, Leon Morris, the phrase “Woe to you…” is actually one of concern and compassion.[1] Jesus was warning the people of the coming judgment, and He lamented over their spiritual, moral condition. What brought profound sadness to Jesus’ heart is that, having seen the light, the people still preferred the darkness. He lamented, and He issued His “Woe to you…”, not as a form of condemnation, but to provide them with stern notice of a limited grace period, of an opportunity to repent and believe before judgment comes. And that judgment would be severe (v. 24), for they had seen the work of God and yet rejected Him, while those who had not seen anything believed (John 20:29). Surely those who would have heard these words of Jesus would have relayed them back to the inhabitants of the cities, and hopefully some would have turned from their sin and believed in the One whom God had sent. Three of Jesus’ disciples were from there – Peter, Andrew, and Philip – so why could there not have been more fruit? Yes, hope there certainly was for these three cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, but hope for what exactly? Hope for a turn-around.
In our present Western context, we might be able to see some parallels with Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. The people of the West, for example, have seen the fruit of the gospel. They have seen lives changed by the gospel. They have seen the sanctifying work of the Christian faith through the church. They have seen their civilization built upon the bedrock of Judeao-Christian values. They have seen the rise of human rights because of the acceptance of God’s revealed truth (consider for a moment the relation between the Magna Carta and Mosaic Law).[2] And yet, having seen the historic fruits of the gospel believed in and applied, the West preferred the darkness, and set its course for radical autonomy – to do away with God in every respect, to be wholly independent from Him and His truth. In essence, the Western people had cast off God as their King, and placed themselves as sovereigns on the throne.[3] Having seen the light, no matter how small a glimpse it may have been, they opted instead for the darkness. And what darkness they have chosen for themselves. Death instead of life, as manifested by the abortion clinics, drug injection camps, and assisted-suicide practitioners. Lunacy instead of sanity, as revealed by the breakdown of all meaning and distinctions within fluid, woke, and progressive ideologies. War instead of peace, as we witness with the proliferation of cultural Marxism, otherwise known as social justice, which has divided humanity into countless lots in continual and never-ending conflict with one another. One might be tempted to look to the politicians to fix this mess, but that is what got us here in the first place. We have looked unto sinful, impotent man instead of Almighty, Holy God. The spiritual condition of the West, which in turn determines the moral condition, cannot be described as one which “leaves much to be desired.” Instead, it is more apt to say that we are living in spiritual and moral degeneracy far worse than the pagan civilizations of old. Egypt, Babylon, and Rome cannot compare with the spiritual and moral degeneracy of today. Perhaps the greatest difference is that it can never be said that these civilizations of old had a godly, or Christian beginning or development (not counting the conversion of the emperor Constantine and onwards). We, on the other hand, did, the Solemn League and Covenant testifies of that fact,[4] and that makes our apostasy as a society all the more severe and tragic.
As followers of Christ, we might be tempted to be more like John and James, the sons of thunder, who earned their names for wanting to call down fire upon the Samaritans after they had rejected Jesus and His ministry (Lk. 9:54). We might be inclined to join the pessimistic clime of the dispensationalists, who have already written off creation for destruction and have hunkered down for a “Left Behind”-style rapture. But neither reactions to our Western degeneracy are right nor biblical.[5] We are called to imitate Christ, as Paul so emphatically reminds us: “[B]e imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…” (Eph. 5:1-2a). While it is true that Jesus will return again to judge the world as the righteous judge (Matt. 25:31-46), His first coming concerned opening the doors of salvation for man. His concern, in this passage of focus, was for the repentance and faith of the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, it was for their salvation and subsequent renewal. All the cultural fruit that would follow their salvation and renewal would be self-evident, but the focus was not on what would follow, but what would bring about that fruit in the first place. Jesus lamented over the condition of these three cities because there was yet time for them to turn from their sin and believe. He modeled for us hope in the face of disbelief and hard-heartedness. And He modeled for us righteous concern and compassion. If we are to imitate Christ, then we too are to lament over the spiritual condition of the West, over the condition of our nation, of our city, of our culture – this not being indicative that we have thrown in the towel and written off creation for destruction, but rather that we have the hope, that while we are faithful in our missional task, there can be a turn-around. A spiritual turn-around, which in turn would manifest as a moral turn-around. Did not Nineveh, which Jonah had already written off in his mind, experience a significant turn-around after having heard Jonah’s prophetic message of judgment? (Jonah 3). Our lament should not be then cause for us to yield, because it certainly was not for Jesus. Rather, it should be cause for us to go out and fulfill our mission, which consists of proclaiming the gospel, wisely applying its truths to every area of life, producing disciple-making disciples, and cultivating a godly civilization upon the bedrock of God’s inscripturated revelation. Why? Because there is hope. And if we are informed and guided by the Scriptures, we will know that in the end, it will be the gospel that triumphs (Psalm 72).
[1] Leon Morris, The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 288.
[2] See Baroness Cox, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, and et. al., Magna Carta Unravelled: The Case for Christian Freedoms Today (UK.: Wilberforce Publications, 2015).
[3] See Michael Wagner, The Anglosphere’s Broken Covenant: Rediscovering the Validity and Importance of the Solemn League and Covenant (Jordan Station, ON.: Cántaro Publications, 2022).
[4] Ibid.
[5] See C. van der Waal, The World our Home: Christians Between Creation and Recreation, trans. Gerda Jacobi (Neerlandia, AB.: Inheritance Publications, 2013).