But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
Christ spoke these words in sending out the seventy to preach the kingdom and the gospel everywhere after the twelve, with himself to follow in every place they went, pronouncing upon Chorazin and Bethsaida, joined with Capernaum, that Tyre and Sidon will fare better than they at the judgment. Tyre and Sidon had not seen the mighty works done in the Galilean towns, yet would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had, while Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum remained unrepentant despite receiving the greatest light and opportunity through Christ's presence, labors, miracles, freely offered blessings and repeated messages from heaven. At the judgment Tyre and Sidon will therefore be in a more favorable and tolerable position, because all are judged according to the light, privileges and evidence of their time, and being exalted to heaven in privilege alone secures no favor. Rejecting the warnings brought by God's messengers is rejecting Christ and the Father and brings condemnation, and the greater guilt lies in seeing mighty works and clear light yet refusing to repent, hardening the heart and remaining convicted but not converted until the boundary of mercy is passed. The same woe meets now all whose understanding is convinced and conscience aroused yet who frame excuses and will not come to Christ for life, calling for earnest walking in the light received, and those who humble their hearts and confess their sins will be pardoned while those who persist face fearful punishment when every person is judged according to the things written in the books.
Context and Contrast
The declaration belongs to the sending of the seventy to go everywhere preaching the kingdom of God and the gospel of truth, coming after the sending of the twelve, with Christ Himself to follow afterward in every place where they were sent. The “you” for whom judgment will be less tolerable than for Tyre and Sidon are Chorazin and Bethsaida, who rejected offered mercy despite witnessing mighty works. Capernaum is joined with them in the same warning, with Bethsaida and Capernaum named together and Chorazin and Capernaum named together as facing severer judgment than Tyre and Sidon.
Tyre and Sidon had not witnessed the mighty works done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, yet would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had seen them. The works seen in the Galilean towns were mighty works and repeated messages from heaven, and their rejection brought greater accountability. Indeed Bethsaida and Chorazin witnessed miracles powerful enough to have convinced even Sodom and Gomorrah, yet did not repent and submit to the evidence of truth.
Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had received greater light and greater opportunity through Christ’s ministry and the ministry of His disciples. That privilege included Christ’s presence and freely offered blessings, His greatest labors and miracles, and the plain message and heavenly gift held out to them. They received repeated messages from heaven and opportunities to learn the truth, with mighty works performed among them.
Greater Light, Greater Judgment
At the judgment Tyre and Sidon will stand in a more favorable and more tolerable position than those who rejected greater light, opportunity, privileges and evidence. Their judgment will be lighter because they were given less light, while cities that saw mighty works and refused them face severer accountability.
Men are judged according to the light and privileges of the time in which they live. Punishment is measured both by wickedness and by the truth that has been given. Being exalted to heaven in privilege alone secures no favor at the judgment.
Rejecting the warnings brought by God's messengers is rejecting Christ and the Father. Such refusal brings condemnation. Refusing God's message and mistreating the messengers He sends is a grievous sin.
The greater guilt came from seeing mighty works and receiving mercy, offered blessings, clear light and evidence, yet not repenting. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had Christ's greatest labors, miracles, freely offered blessings and repeated heavenly gifts, but did not make use of those privileges, did not appreciate or accept the light, and were not changed by it. They neglected opportunities to learn the truth, hardened the heart, refused its benefit, would not submit to the evidence, and chose fables instead of the plain word.
Such resistance leaves men convicted but not converted, determined not to yield the will to God. Even the truth of God's word and Christ's pleadings do not move those who so resist holy influences. They fail to let the sanctifying power of the truth shape life and character.
When those who have received great light persist in refusing repentance and conversion, they pass a boundary. Those who persist in rejecting light and refusing to heed God's warnings and appeals face heaven's judgment. Fearful punishment follows, and woe is pronounced upon them.
Present Warning and Response
The same woe pronounced on Chorazin and Bethsaida rests now on those who have the freely given light of truth and the power of the gospel, for judgment is more severe for those who reject greater light and Tyre and Sidon will fare better at the judgment than those who refuse the heavenly gift freely offered. People are judged according to the light and privileges of the time in which they live, so those with superior advantages receive no favor merely for being exalted to heaven in privilege like Capernaum, and Sodom and Gomorrah would not have perished in their sins if they had been given what is now given. Bethsaida and Chorazin witnessed miracles powerful enough to have convinced Sodom and Gomorrah, yet they did not repent and submit to the evidence of truth, even charging Christ with working through Beelzebub the prince of devils. The same danger meets the multitude now under the power of the gospel whose understanding is convinced and whose conscience is aroused by the Holy Spirit upon mind and heart, yet who frame excuses for not yielding, do not love Jesus nor accept the terms of salvation, and will not come to Him that they might have life. Such resistance leaves them convicted but not converted, determined not to yield the will to God, accountable under the warnings and appeals of God, and when those who have received great light persist in refusing repentance and conversion they pass a boundary after which fearful punishment follows.
The deciding question is what use is made of God's blessings, whether means are held in covetousness to ruin or used to supply the great lack of laborers in New York and in home missions, and whether one walks in the light and works in accordance with the holy character of professed truth. The same warning is given to those who suppose they are safe in obtaining their education in Battle Creek after the Lord blotted out two of the largest institutions established there, which stands as warning after warning even as Christ warned Bethsaida and Capernaum. A family whose home life is marked by unchristlike words and deeds is placed under the woe Christ pronounced against Chorazin and Bethsaida. Pride and worldliness lead people to reject the light they have and to draw others after worldly customs.
The warning demands earnest attention to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, with no departure from the words of Christ, walking in the light, working in accordance with the holy character of professed truth, living by the light received, and holding firmly to God amid opposing influences. The Saviour urges the erring to repent, and those who humble their hearts and confess their sins will be pardoned and forgiven. But the one who thinks confession shows weakness will not find pardon nor see Christ as Redeemer, and will go on in transgression adding sin to sin until the day the books are opened and every person is judged according to the things written in the books.
Tyre met a shut door of probation through unbelief, and judgment will be more tolerable for Tyre than for unbelieving Jerusalem, while God keeps an open door for the humble, the believing, and those who obey. The same separation of a shut door to unbelievers and an open door to believers happened in Noah's time and in Lot's time at the destruction of Sodom, and will happen again at the end of time when those who are ready go in to the marriage and the door is shut. The chapter calls for a serious work requiring the whole being — heart, mind, soul, and strength — in God's service, not confined to believers but extended to unbelievers through personal acquaintance. Many without the truth are living up to all the light they have, yet too little is done to place the truth before them, and God has precious souls in the cities who must be reached, for loving God with all the heart requires loving those for whom He gave His only begotten Son, whose death to redeem human beings from sin has set an open door for bringing others into fellowship with the saints.
Christ spoke these words in sending out the seventy to preach the kingdom and the gospel everywhere after the twelve, with himself to follow in every place they went, pronouncing upon Chorazin and Bethsaida, joined with Capernaum, that Tyre and Sidon will fare better than they at the judgment. Tyre and Sidon had not seen the mighty works done in the Galilean towns, yet would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had, while Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum remained unrepentant despite receiving the greatest light and opportunity through Christ's presence, labors, miracles, freely offered blessings and repeated messages from heaven. At the judgment Tyre and Sidon will therefore be in a more favorable and tolerable position, because all are judged according to the light, privileges and evidence of their time, and being exalted to heaven in privilege alone secures no favor. Rejecting the warnings brought by God's messengers is rejecting Christ and the Father and brings condemnation, and the greater guilt lies in seeing mighty works and clear light yet refusing to repent, hardening the heart and remaining convicted but not converted until the boundary of mercy is passed. The same woe meets now all whose understanding is convinced and conscience aroused yet who frame excuses and will not come to Christ for life, calling for earnest walking in the light received, and those who humble their hearts and confess their sins will be pardoned while those who persist face fearful punishment when every person is judged according to the things written in the books.
Context and Contrast
The declaration belongs to the sending of the seventy to go everywhere preaching the kingdom of God and the gospel of truth, coming after the sending of the twelve, with Christ Himself to follow afterward in every place where they were sent.
The “you” for whom judgment will be less tolerable than for Tyre and Sidon are Chorazin and Bethsaida, who rejected offered mercy despite witnessing mighty works.
Capernaum is joined with them in the same warning, with Bethsaida and Capernaum named together and Chorazin and Capernaum named together as facing severer judgment than Tyre and Sidon.
Tyre and Sidon had not witnessed the mighty works done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, yet would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had seen them.
The works seen in the Galilean towns were mighty works and repeated messages from heaven, and their rejection brought greater accountability.
Indeed Bethsaida and Chorazin witnessed miracles powerful enough to have convinced even Sodom and Gomorrah, yet did not repent and submit to the evidence of truth.
Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had received greater light and greater opportunity through Christ’s ministry and the ministry of His disciples.
That privilege included Christ’s presence and freely offered blessings, His greatest labors and miracles, and the plain message and heavenly gift held out to them.
They received repeated messages from heaven and opportunities to learn the truth, with mighty works performed among them.
Greater Light, Greater Judgment
At the judgment Tyre and Sidon will stand in a more favorable and more tolerable position than those who rejected greater light, opportunity, privileges and evidence. Their judgment will be lighter because they were given less light, while cities that saw mighty works and refused them face severer accountability.
Men are judged according to the light and privileges of the time in which they live. Punishment is measured both by wickedness and by the truth that has been given. Being exalted to heaven in privilege alone secures no favor at the judgment.
Rejecting the warnings brought by God's messengers is rejecting Christ and the Father. Such refusal brings condemnation. Refusing God's message and mistreating the messengers He sends is a grievous sin.
The greater guilt came from seeing mighty works and receiving mercy, offered blessings, clear light and evidence, yet not repenting. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had Christ's greatest labors, miracles, freely offered blessings and repeated heavenly gifts, but did not make use of those privileges, did not appreciate or accept the light, and were not changed by it. They neglected opportunities to learn the truth, hardened the heart, refused its benefit, would not submit to the evidence, and chose fables instead of the plain word.
Such resistance leaves men convicted but not converted, determined not to yield the will to God. Even the truth of God's word and Christ's pleadings do not move those who so resist holy influences. They fail to let the sanctifying power of the truth shape life and character.
When those who have received great light persist in refusing repentance and conversion, they pass a boundary. Those who persist in rejecting light and refusing to heed God's warnings and appeals face heaven's judgment. Fearful punishment follows, and woe is pronounced upon them.
Present Warning and Response
The same woe pronounced on Chorazin and Bethsaida rests now on those who have the freely given light of truth and the power of the gospel, for judgment is more severe for those who reject greater light and Tyre and Sidon will fare better at the judgment than those who refuse the heavenly gift freely offered. People are judged according to the light and privileges of the time in which they live, so those with superior advantages receive no favor merely for being exalted to heaven in privilege like Capernaum, and Sodom and Gomorrah would not have perished in their sins if they had been given what is now given. Bethsaida and Chorazin witnessed miracles powerful enough to have convinced Sodom and Gomorrah, yet they did not repent and submit to the evidence of truth, even charging Christ with working through Beelzebub the prince of devils. The same danger meets the multitude now under the power of the gospel whose understanding is convinced and whose conscience is aroused by the Holy Spirit upon mind and heart, yet who frame excuses for not yielding, do not love Jesus nor accept the terms of salvation, and will not come to Him that they might have life. Such resistance leaves them convicted but not converted, determined not to yield the will to God, accountable under the warnings and appeals of God, and when those who have received great light persist in refusing repentance and conversion they pass a boundary after which fearful punishment follows.
The deciding question is what use is made of God's blessings, whether means are held in covetousness to ruin or used to supply the great lack of laborers in New York and in home missions, and whether one walks in the light and works in accordance with the holy character of professed truth. The same warning is given to those who suppose they are safe in obtaining their education in Battle Creek after the Lord blotted out two of the largest institutions established there, which stands as warning after warning even as Christ warned Bethsaida and Capernaum. A family whose home life is marked by unchristlike words and deeds is placed under the woe Christ pronounced against Chorazin and Bethsaida. Pride and worldliness lead people to reject the light they have and to draw others after worldly customs.
The warning demands earnest attention to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, with no departure from the words of Christ, walking in the light, working in accordance with the holy character of professed truth, living by the light received, and holding firmly to God amid opposing influences. The Saviour urges the erring to repent, and those who humble their hearts and confess their sins will be pardoned and forgiven. But the one who thinks confession shows weakness will not find pardon nor see Christ as Redeemer, and will go on in transgression adding sin to sin until the day the books are opened and every person is judged according to the things written in the books.
Tyre met a shut door of probation through unbelief, and judgment will be more tolerable for Tyre than for unbelieving Jerusalem, while God keeps an open door for the humble, the believing, and those who obey. The same separation of a shut door to unbelievers and an open door to believers happened in Noah's time and in Lot's time at the destruction of Sodom, and will happen again at the end of time when those who are ready go in to the marriage and the door is shut. The chapter calls for a serious work requiring the whole being — heart, mind, soul, and strength — in God's service, not confined to believers but extended to unbelievers through personal acquaintance. Many without the truth are living up to all the light they have, yet too little is done to place the truth before them, and God has precious souls in the cities who must be reached, for loving God with all the heart requires loving those for whom He gave His only begotten Son, whose death to redeem human beings from sin has set an open door for bringing others into fellowship with the saints.