Jesus and the Cities
Mat. 11:20-24
Jesus castigated the cities in terms
which would have made anyone other than him sound like they had totally lost
their temper! But the righteous anger of God’s son had full justification. He
was the miracle-worker, fully qualified to speak with all authority, yet the
people would not listen.
Chorazin,
What kind of prior witness did these
cities receive?
They are called "the cities
where MOST of his mighty works were done".
1. Jesus went to work in the coasts
of
2. A great multitude came from about
Jesus must have given each city a clear
message and warning, because he upbraids them severely. It would be unfair
for Him to expect repentance without a reasonable opportunity beforehand. Here,
in Matthew, the words sound too severe to our soft Western ears, but
scripturally, it was God's love and mercy which sent them His Son, when they
really deserved NOTHING at all.
How arrogant Man is! As C.S.Lewis
puts it, Man has put God in the dock, whereas the reality is the other way
round. Man in his foolishness thinks he can sit in judgment on God. These
proud, stubborn cities decided that Jesus was not to be listened to. They
refused to acknowledge the evidence which Jesus presented to them. Jesus
responded in the only way he had left - as the Judge of Man.
Why were
1. Gen. 13:13 "The men of
2. Gen. 18:20 "Because the cry
of
3. Gen. 18:32 If there had been only
10 righteous in
4. Ez. 16:49 "Behold this was
the iniquity of your sister
5. Jude 7 They "gave
themselves over to fornication, and they indulged in unnatural vices and
sexual pleasures, breaking through the bounds which God had set.
Footnote: "giving themselves
over". In the Greek/English Inter-linear the phrase is "having given
themselves to fornication". The word "fornication" = Greek:
ekpomeuo = an intensive form of 'pomeuo'. Ekpomeuo means "excessive
indulgence".