Christ's Sorrow Over Lost Cities

But to what shall I compare this generation? It is similar to children who sit in the marketplaces and call to their playmates,

and say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.'

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' And so wisdom is justified by her children." Mat 11:16 -19.

Beliefs Are Not A Game

You grown-ups, my peers, are just like children at play when they pretend that they are at a wedding and they say, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. Then we put on a play in which we were at a funeral and we sang a dirge and We mourned to you but you didn't even pretend that you felt sad.

This is what I am saying, said Christ, John came and lived the lifestyle of a hermit and you complained about him and said He has a demon. Then I, a son of the human race, came eating and drinking and you say, Look, a glutton and a drunkard.

wisdom is justified by her children. Wisdom's children are the output of wisdom's activities and they will, in the end, be proven to be right. No Christian's lifestyle will ever please all critics. Some critics will never approve of any Christian's conduct. However, after all, is said and done, those who acted in wisdom will be vindicated; and Christ said by their actions, not by their words, you shall know them.

Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, Ninevah

Then He began to reproach the cities in which His very many miracles had been done, because they did not repent:

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! Because if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

And you, Capernaum, the one having been exalted to heaven, you will be brought down to Hades; because if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 

But I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." Mat 11:20-24.

A History Lesson

Woe to you - The word Woe carries the idea of sorrow rather than condemnation; A primary exclamation of grief. Strong G3759. Christ is not speaking to them as a judge but rather as an intercessor.

Christ compared some local "cities", where miracles had been performed, with other "cities" which did not have that advantage. People are responsible to live and believe according to the light they have received.

1. Chorazin - the precise situation is unknown. Barnes (deceased in 1870). Interestingly, time and archaeological research have changed that fact. Chorazin is about 2.5 miles north of the Sea of Galilee ... on the hill are the ruins of 1st century Chorazin. Retyped from Associates for Biblical Research.

According to Christ, many miracles were done in Chorazin.

2. Bethsaida - The home of Peter, Andrew and Philip. Easton Bible Dictionary. A city near which Christ fed 5,000 and where the blind man had his sight restored. The people in these cities had witnessed the power of Jehovah and had, in spite of that, rejected His chosen messenger.

Tyre - When visited by Christ Tyre was, perhaps, more populous than Jerusalem. At the time of the crusades, it was still a flourishing city. It was deserted by its inhabitants, in A.D. 1291. ... This was the turning-point in the history of Tyre, which has never recovered from the blow. It is now known as a rock whereon fishers dry their nets. Smith's Bible Dictionary.

Sidon – The Old Testament prophet, Joel, reproves Sidon and Tyre for selling children of Judah and Jerusalem to the Grecians, and threatens them with a like fate, Judah selling their sons and daughters to the Sabeans. Fausset's Bible Dictionary.

It was in the region of Tyre and Sidon that Christ exorcised a demon from a pleading woman's daughter. Perhaps Christ could contrast the region of Tyre and Sidon with Chorazin and Bethsaida because Tyre had a huge population and only one miracle is recorded for that area whereas the population of Chorazin and Bethsaida was much smaller and many more people had witnessed Christ's miracles and still they didn't believe.

It was in Nazareth that the Jewish leaders attempted to kill Christ by throwing Him over the cliff. However, Christ did not mention it as one of the cities for which He felt sorrow. This might indicate that He was not as interested in His own well being as He was in the eternal welfare of those who rejected His message.

3. Capernaum - It was the home of Christ when He was not out on the road preaching.

You, Capernaum, the one having been exalted to heaven. As far as altitude goes Capernaum was lower than either Nazareth or Cana so, obviously, Christ was not speaking of physical altitude but, perhaps, rather spiritual blessings.

you will be brought down to Hades. We need to be careful that we do not confuse "Hades" with "the lake of Fire". Hades or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell. Strong G86. We also must not confuse "hell" with "the Lake of Fire". The Revelation says Then Death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. Rev 20:14. Obviously, if "Hades" or "hell" is thrown into the Lake of Fire "Hades" or "hell" cannot be the same as the Lake of Fire.

Christ continued on: if the miracles which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. From studying the Old Testament we learned that Sodom was destroyed because of its wicked lifestyle, but, Christ says, if they would have seen Jehovah's works as you, the people of Capernaum, have they would not have been destroyed and when judgment day comes they will not be judged as harshly as you will be judged.

The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. The Ninevites heard Jonah preach repentance and they repented so they will be in a position to condemn the people of Capernaum because the people of Capernaum did not repent even though they heard the message from one who was greater than Jonah. Mat 12:41.

The queen of the South (the Queen of Sheba) shall rise up in the judgment with this generation (Christ's audience) and she shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; (she was looking for the truth from Solomon, and she found it) and behold, a greater than Solomon is here but you are not interested in knowing the truth. Mat 12:42.

she came from the ends of the earth. Many Bible scholars believe that she was from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is about 2500 Km (1500 miles) from Israel and the people back then called that the ends of the earth. Today we drive further than that just to go on a vacation!

Peaceful Violence

We have now spent nine weeks on the Mount of Beatitudes listening to the greatest of all teachers.  Now it is time to go back into the cities and put into practice the things that we have recently learned.

Christ's Message Was

The blind receive sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Mat 11:5.

It is so easy to read into any text things that we think we should find there. Let's be careful and think about what we are actually reading.

Clarke zeros in on the phrase the poor have the gospel preached to them and he says what was this Gospel? Why, the glad tidings that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.  Because we can be so easily duped by repeatedly hearing the same thing it is hard to think of it any other way.

However, in a former post, we learned that Christ was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, not the death and resurrection of the Messiah; Jesus went about all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. 

The Greatest Ever Born

Assuredly I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Mat 11:11. 

Here we have a few problems.

1.  Christ was born to a woman, is He not greater than John the Baptist?  I suppose it is possible to believe that since Christ made that statement He did not include himself among those He was speaking about.

Bible commentators seem to agree that John was the greatest because he was the one chosen to be the forerunner of the Messiah.  I find this to be a weak argument because it still does not exclude Christ from among all the others. 

2.  Yet, even though John was the greatest he was still less (of lower status) than the one who has the lowest status in the kingdom of heaven.  This is said to refer to the fact that John could never be born again (he died before Christ did and so could not believe in the death and resurrection of Christ) because he was still part of the Old Testament covenant.

Our preachers have repeatedly told us that only those who are born again will ever be in heaven.  Where does that leave poor John, the Baptist, or any Old Testament "saint" such as father Abraham or Moses the authoritarian?  

3. of all the prophets that have been in the world, since the beginning of it, Moses himself not excepted, there has not been raised up by God a greater prophet than John, the first administrator of baptism. Gill (emphasis mine)

baptism itself did not originate with Christians or, for that matter, with John. Jews practiced baptism as a traditional act of purification and the initiation of converts to Judaism long before the coming of the Messiah. gotQuestions?org (emphasis mine)

Non-Violent Violence

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men seize it. Mat 11:12.  

From the time John started preaching and baptizing until Christ spoke these words (this has, by some, been estimated to be one year) people have pressed into the kingdom of heaven.  First people crowded around John and later around Christ just to hear the message of the kingdom.  

We need to realize that the word violence has nothing to do with violence as we understand the word.  This means to crowd oneself into. Strong G970.  That is: to be eager, determined.  This is another way of saying, a person cannot be a half-hearted Christian.

By the kingdom of heaven in this verse is meant, the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of peace; which fullness was not known till after Christ had been crucified, and had risen from the dead. Now the least in this kingdom, the meanest preacher of a crucified, risen, and glorified Savior, was greater than John, who was not permitted to live to see the plenitude of Gospel grace, in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Clarke.

Think Outside the Box

And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah, the one who is about to come. Mat 11:14.

Our English equivalent of if you are willing to receive it is here is a new way of looking at something that you believe to be true.  The Jews, back then, believed that the real Elijah (in Greek Elias) would actually come back.  Christ said, Think again!  Do not follow your preacher's or priest's teaching without doing your own thinking; are you are willing to receive the truth?

Luke seems to have understood the concept that the actual Elijah was not coming back as the forerunner of Christ.  When commenting on the coming of John the Baptist he said And he (John) himself will go before Him (Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah (not in the body of Elijah). Luke 1:17.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Mat 11:15.  This is A kind of proverbial expression; requiring the deepest attention to what is spoken. Wesley.  It is as if Christ is saying, Since you can't believe what your forefathers have taught you, think outside the box and pay attention.  

1.  From your childhood, till now, you have believed that Christ was crucified on Friday.   so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. John 12:40; Mat. 12:40.  How is it possible that Christ could have been put into the grave on a Friday evening, spend three days and three nights in the grave and arise on a Sunday morning.  Think it through - it is illogical.  See:               

2.  From your childhood, till now, you have believed that Christ is the second person of the Trinity.  Don't believe everything your preacher tells you; Study it for yourself - that doctrine is unbiblical.  See:                       https://wwwthinkagai.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-doctrine-of-trinity-revisited.html 

I Have Spoken In Proverbs

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 

For everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. Mat. 7:7-8.

Unanswered Prayer

Poetry

In the previous post, we learned that there are different kinds of poetry.

The Jewish peers of Christ had a style of poetry in which the meaning of lines which did not necessarily follow each other needed to have a continuity.  In 7:7 and 7:8 we have another example of that kind of a poem. 

Perhaps they should be read like this:

Ask, and it shall be given to you; For everyone that asks receives.

seek, and you shall find; he that seeks finds
knock, and it shall be opened to you; to him that knocks, it shall be opened. 

Proverbs

Someone has said that ... Proverbs should be called ... Probablys.  It is the nature of a proverb to generally be right, but if it isn't, no one should be very surprised.

We think of the many prayers which we have prayed which have not been answered; we recall the times we have searched for an answer and never found it; many are the times we have knocked at heaven's door and the door did not open. Then we recall these words of Christ and start to wonder if the Bible can be trusted.

Admittedly, I did not find even one commentary that follows my line of reasoning.  They all insist that, because Christ spoke these words they must mean what we understand them to mean.   Some say that God answers every prayer but sometimes He says no to our requests.  I say that that belief is just closing our minds to the real facts!

However, let's not close our eyes to facts.  Here is an example.  A wonderful 12-year-old girl is diagnosed with cancer and immediately the parents turn to prayer.  There is nothing casual or superficial about their prayers; how could there be.  Their daughter is all they think about; they ask the church to pray for their daughter's recovery but the precious child dies anyway!  There was nothing wrong with all those prayers - they just were not answered!

The argument is made that the results were best for all concerned and that perhaps the parents will learn to follow Christ more closely because of it.  This may be true but it does not change the fact that the prayers were not answered.

This does not make Christ a liar, it only shows that He was quoting some everyday proverbs.  In another situation Christ said, These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs. John 16:25 KJV.   

It would take a lot of pressure off of the Bible if we did not worship it as an infallible god.

Narrow Is The Gate

Enter in through the narrow gate; because wide is the gate, and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in through it. 
How narrow the gate, and confined the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it! Mat 7:12-14

Consequently, by their fruits you shall know them. 

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Mat 7:20-21

There is a "fine line" between working to earn our salvation and accepting the idea that we can be redeemed simply by believing that Christ died for us.  

We can see that regardless of how dedicatedly we work we will still fall short of the requirements that Jehovah demands.  Even Mother Terrassa and others in her category of self-denial did not do enough to wash their souls clean of the natural inborn guilt.  They still needed to accept the fact that it was Christ's death that made their salvation possible.

On the other hand, there are many who insist that all they have to do is believe that Christ died for them and voila, they are set for heaven and they can live any way they want to.  This depressing fact is seen far too often in the lives of those who live for fleshly pleasures and then, when something goes wrong they come running to Christ for help.

Christ and the other New Testament teachers do not allow for that kind of thinking at all.  Paul wrote: work out your own salvation (we must work at our salvation) with fear and trembling. Phil. 2:12.  Christ stated the matter just as clearly: Consequently, by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Mat 7:20-21.  Our lifestyle will show which path we are on.

There are many in the evangelical group who seem to have captured the right balance between works and faith and they are teaching that "fine line".  

To enter the Christian religion one must believe that Christ's death and resurrection are all that one needs to have the inborn sins removed.  According to Christ, there are not a variety of ways of getting to meet His Father.  He said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6. 

Unfortunately, being "born again" and having Jehovah's breath invade us still leaves us with a desire to please ourselves.  That is why Paul wrote if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25.  These are two separate, but intertwined elements of the Christian life.  Surrendering ourselves to Christ, to live as He would have us live, is an act of the will and of practice.  It does not happen automatically!

If anyone is seriously wondering what the Christian life should look like, there are two lists ready for the reading.  

Note that those lists do not include things like:

• Women must wear a doily on their head to pray
• When we fold our hands to pray, the thumbs must point upward
• You must pray at certain times of the day
• You must not eat red meat on Friday

Remember, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Gal 5:18. However, you are certainly not free to do whatever you might feel like.

Now the works of the flesh (things to avoid) ... are: 

• adultery, 
• fornication, 
• immorality, 
• lewdness, 
• idolatry, 
• sorcery, 
• hatred, 
• contentions, 
• jealousies, 
• outbursts of wrath, 
• selfish ambitions, 
• dissensions, 
• factions, 
• envies, 
• murders, 
• drinking bouts, 
• revelries, 
• and the like.    

But the fruit of the Spirit is: 

• love, 
• joy, 
• peace, 
• longsuffering, 
• kindness, 
• goodness, 
• faithfulness, 
• gentleness, 
• self-control. 

those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.  Galatians 5:19-24. 

Lumber and Jewels

Judge not, lest you be judged. 

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you measure, it will be measured back to you. 

And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the plank in your own eye? 

Or how will you say to your brother, 'Permit me to remove the speck from your eye'; and look, there is a plank in your own eye? 

Hypocrite! First remove the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye. Mat 7:1-5

A Plank

Judge not, lest you be judged.  This is the Bible verse that seems to be most popular in our present day. But most (of) the people who quote this verse don’t understand what Jesus said. They seem to think Jesus commanded a universal acceptance of any lifestyle or teaching. Guzik   That this is not at all!  What Christ meant is made obvious by His words, by their fruits you shall know them.  How could we know them if we did not make a judgement of their lifestyle?  It may not be "politically correct" but it is right for us to say that certain ways of living are wrong.  We may condemn, or better still, we should condemn wrong lifestyles but not the person who is living them.

What Christ is saying is do not judge others as to their character.  Doing that is as if we are taking Jehovah's place in judgement.  That is not ours to do.

  

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.  When we stand at the judgement bar of Jehovah and He sees that we were very harsh in condemning fellow humans He might just take the standard we set for others and use it for measuring how we lived our lives when He passes out judgement on us.

why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the plank (to be classified as a plank it must be at least 1.5 inches thick and 7.5 inches wide) in your own eye?  In making this statement Christ is again using a hyperbole. 

It is a universal trait that we set lower standards for ourselves than we do for others.  A modern example of this might sound like this.  You meet your friend and say, I saw you in the cafe last night and I noticed you drinking a bottle of beer.  What you don't say is that every Saturday evening you go to the bar and get so sloshed that you can't even find your way home.

how will you say to your brother, Permit me to remove the speck from your eye?  How can you, the habitual drinker, suggest to your friend, who had a bottle of beer, that he should seek professional help?

Hypocrite!  This word comes from the Greek "hupokritēs" which means an actor under an assumed character (stage player). Strong G5271.

Christ says, You hypocrite, First, remove the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.  Before you have any right to even notice what your friend is drinking you should spend some time in prayer, join the AAA, and overcome your own problem.

Pearls

Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.  Mat 7:6.

Do not give what is holy to the dogs. the holy or sacred thing; i.e. any thing, especially, of the sacrificial kind, which had been consecrated to God. Clarke. Some Bible scholars say that the Jews would have understood Christ to mean, after the meat has been sacrificed as an offering to Jehovah don't give it to the dogs.

Some draw this parallel: The bread and the wine of the communion service are holy and non-Christians have no right to partake of them.  Of course, we do not think of non-Christians as dogs but to the Jews of Christ's time, that Christ was referring to the Gentiles, was perhaps the meaning that they got from His statement.  The Jews were in the habit of referring contemptuously to Gentiles as dogs—unclean animals with whom they would not associate if such association could be avoided. © Mark D. Nanos (www.marknanos.com)

There are different styles of poetry; in some poetry, it is not the last word of the first and second-line or the first and third line, that must rhyme.  In some poetry, it might be the meaning (not the sound of the words) of the first and third lines that must be connected.  

These words of Christ are perhaps that kind of a poem.  Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.   

There are some versions of the Bible that do not allow for the following arrangement, but some do.

The members of this sentence should be transposed thus: -

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
Lest they turn again and rend you:
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
Lest they trample them under their feet. Clarke.

Actually, if we stop to think about it, this arrangement makes sense.  Because dogs were thought of as unclean animals people would certainly not tame them or keep them as pets.  

Since they were wild there is a good chance that they would turn on a person and tear you in pieces.  In the East, dogs are wilder and more gregarious, and, feeding on carrion and garbage, are coarser and fiercer than the same animals in the West. Dogs and swine, besides being ceremonially unclean, were peculiarly repulsive to the Jews, and indeed to the ancients generally. Barnes.

and turn again and rend you—as dogs do. Religion is brought into contempt, and its professors (those who profess Christ) insulted, when it is forced upon those who cannot value it and will not have it. Barnes.

The current day application of these words is that Christians should be discriminate about with whom they share the deeper doctrines of the Bible.  There is nothing that some crude people would rather do than smear Christians and the Bible's teachings in the mud in which they themselves feel so at home.  

neither cast ye your pearls before swine—the impure or coarse, who are incapable of appreciating the priceless jewels of Christianity. Barnes.

lest they trample them under their feet—as swine do.

About this verse, John Wesly wrote: Yet even then, when the beam (plank) is cast out of thine own eye, ... talk not of the deep things of God to those whom you know to be wallowing in sin. Neither declare the great things God hath done for your soul to the profane, furious, persecuting wretches.