12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” ~ Luke 10:12-16
In today's text, the Lord Jesus mentions six cities, three Old Testament Gentile cities and three New Testament Jewish cities. The first Old Testament Gentile city of Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone, a prototype for wickedness and judgement.
The Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon were cities given over to idolatry, materialism, greed and wickedness. All the people in Sodom, Tyre and Sidon were catapulted into a godless eternity of punishment in hell. Sodom had exposure to the truth from Lot. Tyre and Sidon had exposure to the truth from many who passed their way. They rejected the truth and unknowingly embraced hell.
The Jewish cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum also rejected truth and suffered the same fate as the Gentile Old Testament cities mentioned here. But, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum will be punished more than the three Gentile cities. The Sodomites, Sidonites, and Tyrites will receive lesser punishment in hell than the Jewish people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. What this means, I am not sure.
In Luke 10, the Lord had sent out disciples to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. In v.12 the Lord issues a warning to those who reject the Gospel. "On that day" speaks of the Day when the Judgment of God will be exacted upon those who are not in the family of God. To be exposed to the gospel and to reject it is to invite the wrath of God.
According to our text, any place the disciples went where the people rejected the truth, it will be more tolerable for Sodom, Tyre and Sidon. This is why the Lord tells these disciples, "Go offer them peace but if they reject it, they will live with the consequences."
In Luke 10:12, the Lord Jesus said, "I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town." He was saying, " you're going to have a hotter hell than Sodom because judgment is not limited to the degree of one's sin; it's much more associated to the degree of one's rejection."
In v.13 the Lord Jesus said, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes." We don't know much about Chorazin, a little village which is two and a half miles from Capernaum. Chorazin doesn't exist today, it was exposed to the Lord Jesus, His miracles, and His power over disease, death, demons and nature. And He says, "Woe to you, " which means "you are cursed."
In v.13 Bethsaida is also another little town on the northwest of Capernaum. According to John 1, it was the home of Andrew and Philip and Peter. Bethsaida, along with Chorazin, had been exposed to the power and presence of the Lord Jesus. And they rejected Him. Their rejection of the truth left them in their sin. Tyre and Sidon, mentioned in Luke 10:13-14 were rich and very pagan. God pronounced destruction on them.
On one side, the ungodly and Gentile towns of Sodom, and Tyre, and Sidon rejected the truth from God. And, then there are "the chosen" people of God, the Jews of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin. The Lord Jesus is saying to them, "When you all get to the judgment, it's going to be worst for you than it was for them." The Lord was saying to those who had seen the miracles, "If these three Old Testament cities had seen what you saw, they would have repented."
The Jews of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin did not repent because of their self-righteousness which is a worse condition than any other. Religious people are the hardest of all to convince of their need of a savior. And so, according to v.14-16, "14 ... it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. 16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me."
It is the truth that sets us free, it does not matter who is sharing it with us or who we are sharing it with. The design of truth is to lead us ultimately back to the One who is the way, the truth and the life.
