MATTHEW 11: WHICH TOWN ARE YOU?

 

WHICH TOWN ARE YOU?

²⁰ Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. ²¹ “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 in sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.^[e] For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

CHORAZIN, BETHSAIDA AND CAPERNAUM are the towns where Jesus perform the miracles but still did not repent.

 CHORAZIN

• A town near the Sea of Galilee
• Witnessed Jesus’ works
• Yet remained unrepentant

BETHSAIDA was the hometown of apostles Peter, Philip and Andrew. It was also the site of feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:10-17) and healing of the blind man (Mark 8:22).

• Home of some disciples
• A place of miracles and teaching
• Still, many hearts were hardened

CAPERNAUM was Jesus’ base and even called his own city (Matthew 9:1). It was also the residence of several disciples like John, James and Matthew the tax collector. Capernaum witnessed notable miracles, such as healing the Roman centurion’s servant, restoring Peter’s mother in-law from fever, healing a paralytic man who was lowered through the roof, raising the daughter of Jairus from the dead. Jesus himself frequently taught in the local synagogue. But they did not repent, they didn’t care. They went on to their wicked ways.

• Jesus’ “base of ministry”
• Saw the most miracles
• Yet became proud and spiritually indifferent

So Jesus, in deep sorrow, mentioned these three gentile communities Tyre, Sidon and Sodom. Jesus says that if cities like Tyre and Sidon had seen these miracles, they would have repented because:

·       The more you know about God

·       The more you experience His presence
➡️ The greater your accountability

These three towns proved that Miracles Don’t Guarantee Repentance

• They saw healing, power, and truth, yet their hearts did not change

Therefore, It’s possible to experience God and still resist Him

HOW ABOUT US?

We have read the bible from Old Testament to New, from cover to cover, have known all the recorded miracles Jesus had done. We know that those are only few or partial of what Jesus had done, as Apostle John said in John 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books. And in John 20:30–31 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book.31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The record is partial, the bible is partial, but it should be enough. Enough for us all to believe.

Jesus didn’t just show us His miracles in the bible, but we have witnessed it ourselves- in flesh, with our bare eyes. We have been to city ministries where pains were gone in Jesus name, where deliverances were performed in the power of the name of Jesus. During missions, we did what Jesus did, shared the gospel, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead churches. Was it enough to believe in the power of Jesus?

Let us reflect.

·       Is the partial knowledge of Jesus enough for us to care?

·       Is it enough for us to believe in Him?

·       Is it enough for us to truly repent?

·       Is it enough to fully follow Him?

·       Is it enough to fully surrender?

·       Is the firsthand experience of miracles still not enough for us to truly follow and fully surrender?

Jesus clearly expected us to respond to his message and miracles, with true repentance - which is totally turning from sin and turning to God- with total surrender. Failure to repent and believe in Jesus is greater sin than anything ever done in the three notorious Gentile cities. We have read Jesus’ miracles, we have witnessed it by our own eyes, we have experienced His presence, are those not enough for us to fully surrender? Or should we remain in our state of spiritual obesity (taking all the equipping, listening to all the sermons but never moved to follow) and spiritual indifference – where we do not care to whatever we hear and whatever we witnessed? We go on with our life doing our favorite sin, being Christian on Sundays but have different personality on other days, surrendering some aspect of our lives but never the finances, no, I cannot give my tithes, I am short this month and my budget is tight. Did we forget to put God first? It is better for us not to hear and not know God’s words, than knowing but not following. 2 Peter 2:21 (NIV): "It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. James 1:22, Luke 12:47-48, Matthew 7:26

It is not what you have seen or heard about God that matters most—it is how you respond. The greatest danger is not ignorance, but a heart that refuses to change.

 

Let us pray.

Papa God,

Thank you for the revelation of Your word and for the conviction it brings.

Help us to be not spiritually obese, help us to move, help us to act upon what we believe in your words. Help us to care others, help us to be loving enough to find the lost souls, help us to follow you without hesitation. Help us to be sensitive enough of your presence, help us to see you in everything around us, help us not be spiritually indifferent, help us to care on what you care, help us to appreciate you and your deeds. Help us to follow you in total surrender.

These I ask in the mighty name of Jesus.

Thank you my Lord, my God and my King. Amen.

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ELDER MAYEN – JCRC CAMBODIA