Then began he to reproach the cities in which most of his works of power had taken place, because they had not repented.
The Lord turns to the towns where He had done most of His miracles. They had seen more of His power than any other place on earth, yet they did not repent.
One writer marks where this moment falls in the Lord's ministry:
The Lord did most of His mighty works round the Sea of Galilee. Here we get His rejection, the rejection of His Galilean ministry. These verses are very solemn; we need to weigh them well.
What does repentance mean here? One writer answers from the way the Lord uses the word:
The Lord reproaches the cities where He had done most of His mighty works, because they did not repent. Tyre and Sidon would have repented if they had seen them. Is it not a real change of life and a self-judgment in answer to the testimony set before them?
Another writer makes it personal, and warns against putting it off:
Repentance is real submission of soul to what God says in His word about me. There is a lot of subtle teaching around about another chance, drawn from what we have here. Let it be clear; everything about eternity is settled in this life.
Power on display did not change these towns. One writer draws a wider rule from that:
We learn from this that no outward circumstances are enough to convert a soul. There must be an inward work of the word and Spirit of God. The mighty works of our blessed Lord did not produce repentance in favoured Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum! So it will be in the millennium. With all its displayed power and glory and increased knowledge, the heart of man stays unchanged, unless it is the subject of divine grace. There must be a new birth, and this cannot happen apart from repentance and faith.
Israel's earlier sins were sins against the law and against the prophets. Here the Lord names something worse:
How deep and awful the word "Woe!" sounds, coming from the lips of the Son of God. It is the woe that follows rejected grace. It is no longer just a question of a broken law, or of ordinances dishonoured and abused. It is no longer just divine institutions shamefully corrupted, or prophets and wise men rejected and stoned.
The Lord goes on to compare town with town. One writer states the rule behind those comparisons:
There was another city that was favoured even more. It is called His own city elsewhere (Matt. 9:1), because that is where He usually lived at the time. For that reason its guilt was so much worse… In other words, the measure of privilege is always the measure of responsibility.
Reproach is not His last word. Within a few verses the same lips give thanks to the Father:
He could weep over Jerusalem, and at the sight of the power of death over the hearts of men. The refusal of His love was a constant source of grief to Him. He reproached the cities where He had done most of His mighty works. Yet He is perfect in His patience. In that same hour He said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children," Matt. 11. He gives thanks at the very moment He reproaches.
The principle does not stay in Galilee. One writer turns it on the reader who keeps hearing and keeps refusing:
We fear that very few people realise the awful responsibility of hearing the gospel again and again and rejecting it. It was a solemn thing for Capernaum to reject the light that shone on it. How much more solemn it is for anyone now to reject the still brighter light that shines on him in the gospel of the grace of God! Redemption is now accomplished. Christ is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour. The Holy Spirit has come down. The written word of God is complete. Everything has been done that love could do.
- Privilege given. These towns saw most of His mighty works. No place on earth saw more of His power.
- Privilege wasted. No outward display converts anyone. There must be a new birth by the word and Spirit of God.
- Privilege measured. The measure of privilege is always the measure of responsibility. Capernaum, the town where the Lord lived, carried the worst guilt of all.
- Privilege answered. God asks for repentance: self-judgment, real submission of soul to what He says about me. This life is where that is settled.
- Privilege refused. This woe follows rejected grace. It falls heavier still on anyone who hears the gospel now and keeps saying no.
Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to thee Bethsaida! for if the works of power which have taken place in you, had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they had long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes.
Two towns beside the Sea of Galilee saw more of the power of Jesus than almost anywhere else, and neither repented. Instead of arguing, He compares them with Tyre and Sidon — two cities that never received His message.
Galilee saw the most of His power and gave the least response. One writer draws out both what repentance is and why it matters now:
Most of the Lord's mighty works were done around the sea of Galilee... So He rebukes the cities because they did not repent, and He rebukes His own people because they did not believe. This is the only place where Chorazin is named. Philip, Andrew, and Peter all belonged to Bethsaida. These verses are very solemn; we need to weigh them well. Repentance is real submission of soul to what God says in His word about me. Much subtle teaching draws the idea of a second chance out of these words. Let it be clear: everything about eternity is settled in this life.
The woe is not the reaction of a stranger. He had already given them everything, and they had refused Him:
The Son Himself had come, in richest grace. He had spoken in their ears such words as none other had ever spoken. He had done His mighty miracles among them. He had healed their sick, cleansed their lepers, raised their dead, fed their hungry, opened the eyes of their blind. What had He not done? What had He not said? He longed to gather them under His sheltering wing; but they would not settle there... and now, at length, after long patience, He pours out His solemn woes upon them.
Sackcloth was a real garment with a known use:
Sackcloth was the badge of mourning, used at times of bereavement, calamity, or individual and national repentance.
If those cities would have repented, why did He not do the miracles there? Commentators give two answers. The first is that God was testing man at his highest point of privilege:
It might have been said, Why was the message not sent to Tyre, ready to listen? Why not to Sodom, so that the city might have escaped the fire that consumed it? It is that man must be tested in every way, so that the perfect counsels of God may be developed. If Tyre or Sodom had abused the advantages heaped on them by a God of creation and providence, the Jews were to show what was in the heart of man. They held all the promises, and God had entrusted them with all His words.
The second is that His mission had a set boundary:
Why then did He not do these works there? Because He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and would give them every opportunity to repent.
The comparison does not lower the guilt of Tyre and Sidon. It raises the guilt of the towns that saw more:
The Lord recalled the memory of Tyre and Sidon, but it was only to show the far greater guilt of the cities where most of His mighty works were done... In other words, the measure of privilege is ever the measure of responsibility.
"More tolerable" implies that the coming judgment is not one flat sentence for everyone:
Each will be dealt with on his own distinct ground and according to his light and privilege... It will be "more tolerable" for some than for others, as in Matthew 11. The Judge of all the earth will do right, but man is responsible, and his responsibility is measured by the light and advantage given him. All are not lumped together carelessly, as though they were all on one common ground. On the contrary, God makes the most exact distinctions. No one will ever be condemned for making light of advantages that were never within his reach.
The chapter does not end in the woe. Jesus turns from these towns to His Father and gives thanks:
What feelings at such a time! Oh, for grace to bow like that and bless God, even when our little labour seems to be in vain! At that time Jesus answered, "I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children."
- Privilege — Chorazin and Bethsaida were not judged for being worse than other towns. They were judged for having seen more. Privilege is the measure of responsibility.
- Patience — the "woe" is not a flash of temper. It comes at the end of long patience, from the One who had healed them, fed them, and longed to gather them.
- Repentance — real submission of soul to what God says about me. Tyre and Sidon would have shown it by putting on sackcloth, the clothing of mourners.
- Reckoning — "more tolerable" shows that the coming judgment weighs each person exactly. No one is condemned for making light of advantages he never had. And this life settles everything about eternity.
- Rejoicing — rejection did not stop Him. His next words thank the Father, who hides these things from the wise and reveals them to little children.