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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 10:13 - 10:16
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Woes upon several cities of Galilee:
v. 13. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
v. 14. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Judgment than for you.
v. 15. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
v. 16. He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me.
See Mat_11:21-23. The question of the guilt of those that reject the Gospel calls to the mind of Jesus the behavior of the cities of Galilee in whose neighborhood some of His greatest works had been done. He had come to them with the fullness of His love and mercy, and they had rejected Him. Chorazin and Bethsaida were on the shores of Lake Gennesaret, almost side by side. Great miracles had been done in their midst, and the people had been willing enough to be entertained, but the words of eternal love out of the mouth of Jesus had made no impression upon them. Under like circumstances Tyre and Sidon, the heathen cities whom the Jews despised for their idolatrous practices and beliefs, would long since have repented, clothed in a garment of sack-cloth, with ashes on the head. And therefore Tyre and Sidon, to whom His grace had not been revealed in this measure, would receive greater consideration on the Day of Judgment than these cities of Galilee. And Capernaum also, which had been lifted up to heaven by the fact that Jesus made this city His headquarters during His Galilean ministry, would receive the full measure of His wrath on the last day and be forcefully thrust down to hell. Note: There is a word of warning here for all Christians. They have Christ in their midst for years, decades, and generations, in the printed and in the spoken Word of the Gospel. But how often, is Jesus neglected and overlooked in the Christian homes! No reading of Scriptures alone or in family worship; no regular attendance at church;—there is danger of falling into the condemnation of the Galilean cities. And this applies also to the treatment accorded to the messengers of Christ. In hearing, -them we hear Christ, for they are His ambassadors and plenipotentiaries; but also, in despising them, in repudiating the Gospel of mercy, we repudiate Christ, of whose salvation it preaches; and in despising Christ, we despise His heavenly Father, partly because He is sent forth by the Father with full power, partly because He is one with the Father. Here is food for serious thought!