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JESUS URGES THEM TO REPENT

 

Matthew 11:20-30

Key Verse: 11:24

 

    "But I tell you that it will be more bearable for

     Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

 

1. Read verses 20-22. Where were Korazin and Bethsaida? What had Jesus

   done in and around these Galilean cities? For what did Jesus rebuke

   them? With what cities did Jesus compare them?

 

2. Read verses 23-24. Where was Capernaum? What were some of the things

   Jesus had done there? Why and how was it rebuked? Why was Capernaum

   worse than Sodom?

 

3. What does it mean to repent? What is the fate of those who reject

   the message of the kingdom of God?

 

4. Read verses 25-26. How did Jesus address God? Why was he full of

   praise and joy, even though his message was rejected? Read verse

   27.  How did Jesus comfort himself? What does this mean?

 

5. Read verses 28-30. What was Jesus' gracious invitation to sinful

   people?  How does he comfort and bless those who come to him?

 

 

JESUS URGES THEM TO REPENT

 

Matthew 11:20-30

Key Verse: 11:24

 

    "But I tell you that it will be more bearable for

     Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

 

   We are studying Jesus' Galilean ministry. As we studied, Jesus

preached the gospel and healed the sick. He also chose his disciples

and raised them through common life together with him. Jesus' ministry

was indeed intensive. He had done gospel ministry from one village to

another.  Actually Jesus might have visited all the villages of the

Galilean district.  But even though he worked so hard, the fruit of

people who believed the kingdom of God was very few in number. So today

Jesus laments over the people of Korazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum,

who had seen Jesus miracles, heard the good news of the kingdom of God,

and seen Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons in many people.

Jesus gave them a demonstration that he is the Son of God. Jesus gave

them miracles and intensively preached the kingdom of God so that they

might have eternal life through Jesus Christ and not perish. But they

were very unrepentant.  They came to Jesus, saw Jesus preaching and

were amazed and moved. But when they went back to their daily lives,

they were just the same ungodly people. In this passage Jesus laments

over their unbelief and indifference and ignorance, and at the same

time he urges them to repent. Today we also see how Jesus comforted

himself when people did not repent as he wanted. Finally, instead of

punishing them, Jesus gave them the way of true rest. May God give us

the spirit of repentance and help us learn the way of true rest through

this passage.

 

First, Jesus laments over unrepentant people. As we studied, Jesus

began his messianic ministry in the Galilean district. But after a long

time Jesus denounced the cities in which most of his miracles had been

performed, because they did not repent. Jesus cursed them. Look at

verses 21-22.  Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! 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. But I

tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of

judgment than for you.

 

   Here we see that they had seen enough of what Jesus was doing. It

was preaching the good news of the kingdom of God by performing

miracles and healing the sick so that they might repent and believe in

the kingdom of God.

 

   Wherever Jesus was, a crowd of people followed him to hear the good

news of the kingdom of God and also to see his miraculous signs.  They

said many  wows.  Some seemed to believe. For example, in John's Gospel

chapter 6, five thousand people followed Jesus because they ate bread

and fish made out of five loaves and two fish by the miracle of Jesus

(Jn 6:1-15). But when Jesus talked about heavenly bread, they insisted

on having free earthly bread. Jesus talked to them again and again

about heavenly bread. They were discouraged and ran away one by one

until only the disciples were left. Their purpose of following Jesus

was to get some bread. Some followed Jesus to entertain themselves by

seeing Jesus miraculous signs performed on the lepers and the blind and

the paralytics.  But when they went home, their lifestyle did not

change at all. In order to live in this world forever, they did

everything by all means. So Jesus said to them,  Woe to you Korazin!

Woe to you Bethsaida! 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.

 

   Jesus laments that his chosen people never received the long-awaited

Messiah's divine words. Rather, some Gentile people responded. So Jesus

said,  Your punishment on  judgment day will be  unbearable.

 

   Look at verse 23.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the

skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were

performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to

this day.  Here Jesus rebukes the people of Capernaum. At that time

Capernaum was one of the important cities in Galilee. It was the

headquarters of Jesus' messianic ministry. It was a most prosperous

business center.  In addition, a Roman regiment was stationed there.

And the tax collector Levi's office was there. Later this tax collector

was called to be a disciple of Jesus. His name was changed to  Matthew,

the greatest teacher of humanity in history.  Because Capernaum was a

prosperous city, people were rich for themselves and very poor toward

God. Even though the Messiah came and worked centering in Capernaum,

people's responses were very indifferent; they thought Jesus was only a

little bit more than an ordinary man. So Jesus lamented, saying,  And

you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go

down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been

performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.  According to

Jesus' lament, the people of Capernaum were not better than the people

of Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

   Finally Jesus told them that those who reject the good news about

the kingdom of God will go to hell, and their punishment will be worse

than that of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Usually we think that

the people of Sodom and Gomorrah received the most terrible punishment

by fire. But the people of Capernaum would be even hotter than the

people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

   Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom of God. But they did not

accept. They were busy. They wanted to be great and wealthy and they

wanted to live in this world forever. They were indeed ignorant and

ungodly people. They were like pigs before the butchers. They were like

cattle before the huge slaughterhouse. They  had a  premonition that

something was going to happen, but they did not know they were going

into the slaughterhouse. But Jesus knew and he urged them to repent.

 

Second, the meaning of repentance. When we consider our human life, it

seems that we are born of a woman and are going to a graveyard. During

the time in between, we work hard to succeed, to make money, and to

become a small and great man. In order to survive in the world, each

person unintentionally becomes selfish and self-centered. They do not

think about the invisible spiritual world or the kingdom of God. So

even if many attend churches, they do not know the true meaning of

repentance. They think that if they go to church, they will go to the

kingdom of God by the grace of God. The grace of God is given to us

through the message of the kingdom of God. Mark 1:15 says,  The time

has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good

news!  We must know that believing in Jesus and going to the kingdom of

God is everything. Suppose a person works hard and gains honor and

wealth. He cannot keep it forever. Therefore, believing the good news

of the kingdom of God should be the entire plan of our lives. And

believing the kingdom of God should be the entire purpose and meaning

of life. And preaching the kingdom of God should be one's life mission.

But these days, by the Biblical conception, there are too many old

wineskin kind of people. They think that believing is nothing more than

one of their activities for survival in this hard world. We must

seriously think about why Jesus preached the kingdom of God as a matter

of first importance.

 

    Jesus also urged repentance to all people. What is repentance?

Repentance is turning one's worldly lifestyle to the lifestyle God

wants us to have. For example, to one who lived for his pig or cow

business as his life purpose, repentance means to change his lifestyle

to live for the glory of God. Repentance is turning around from the

world to God. Repentance is changing one's value system from the world

to the kingdom of God.  Repentance is changing one's desire from

enjoying the things of the world, like wine or women, to enjoying God

in one's heart. Repentance is to see that the present life is temporal

and the kingdom of God is everlasting.  When we repent, we can obtain

the kingdom of God. Repentance is to become great and wealthy. For

example, Abraham was a 75-year-old man who was a very fatalistic person

with no son. So he had no grandsons to enjoy. But God promised him,

You will be great and you will be a blessing  (Ge 12:2). When Abraham

changed his way of thinking from fatalism to faith in God, he finally

became the greatest man in the world.  Even in the former Soviet Union

so many are named after Abraham. Our greatest president's name was

Abraham Lincoln. As God promised, he made Abraham a very great and

wealthy man. Abraham didn't have to cry like  Reptavia in  Fiddler on

the Roof,  singing,  If I were a rich man...  God blessed him

abundantly. Now his descendants are like the stars in the sky and the

sand on the seashore. His name is so great that all Christians and even

most non-Christians know that he is the ancestor of faith and the

greatest man together with David and after Jesus. This is the reason

Jesus delivered the message of repentance. But the people of Korazin,

Bethsaida and Capernaum did not repent. So Jesus had to curse them.

Actually, it was not really a curse, but an expression of Jesus' deep

sorrow and lamenting over the people.

 

Third, Jesus comforts himself (25-27). Look at verses 25-26.  At that

time Jesus said,  I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and

revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good

pleasure.   One young man wanted to be a Ph.D. and an honorable person.

But after 16 years had elapsed he still could not get a Ph.D. So he

shot his advisor and he also shot himself in the head. The real problem

was his discouragement. He had wanted to marry after getting a Ph.D.

His age was already 40. But he could not marry. He could not get a

Ph.D. So he killed himself. Jesus discouragement was even more than

this. Yet Jesus saw that the good news of the kingdom of God was not

accepted by the wise and learned but was revealed to little children.

Here,  little children  means those who are pure in heart. Their number

was very few. Maybe Jesus made one hundred thousand telephone calls and

had ten thousand rejections and engaged in mass evangelism and visiting

from village to village. But the result was that only several people

were left. Here we learn that we don t have to be discouraged because

of the hardship to fish sheep and raise them as disciples. Jesus

experienced the same thing. But Jesus was overjoyed by God's wisdom.

Jesus said,  Because you have hidden these things from the wise and

learned and revealed them to little children  (25). It was the exact

expression that only a few sheep were left.

 

   Jesus also comforted himself. Look at verse 27.  All things have

been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the

Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom

the Son chooses to reveal him.  This verse is a little longer, but it

is the same as John 15:1, which says,  I am the true vine, and my

Father is the gardener.  Jesus' relationship with God was absolutely

inseparable. It was like a vine and branch. Jesus was greatly comforted

and rejoiced even if heaven fell and the earth cracked. It didn t

matter to Jesus, if only he had a personal relationship with God.

 

Fourth,  Take my yoke  (28-30). People of the world pretend to be great

and wealthy. They only enjoy their lives. In fact, there are many

people who enjoy their lives more than enough. They count the long

weekend holidays and make a perfect schedule to enjoy their lives. They

seek pleasure in going around to 120 kinds of restaurants and go to the

restroom a lot. Still, they go around to all the restaurants of 170

nations which are in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas. But actually

they are very restless. After having a decent party, husbands and wives

shout and fight.  One housewife was beaten up several years by her

husband. One night she thought if she had to be beaten up like this,

she wanted to die fighting with her husband. So she made a fist tightly

and began to fight with her husband. By one punch her husband was

thrown to the wall. Then she got the confidence to lift him up and

throw him to the other wall. They are a renowned university professor

couple. The more the people of the world have fun, the more they feel

empty and meaningless. The people of the world enjoy immoral lives.

Most men think they can enjoy many women because they are most

handsome. Actually, most of them look like Cambodian refugees.

 

   True rest comes from Jesus. True rest comes when we carry out God's

mission assigned to us. So Jesus said,  Take my yoke upon you and learn

from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest

for your souls  (29). Can you find some other way to truly rest? No.

Jesus word is the only way to have true rest. Therefore, let's take his

yoke upon us and learn from our Lord Jesus Christ.