Life of Christ 62
The Capernaum synagogue in which Jesus probably preached |
There were two major
geographical areas in the Israel of Jesus' day. Judea, which was in the south, was where Jerusalem was located. Although it was relatively poor, the people that lived
there were considered more spiritual, since they were closer to the Temple. Of
course, more Pharisees and rabbis chose to live in this region, so their
influence was commensurately high. Galilee, on the other hand, was in the
north, and as the larger and more populous region, it had pull, but not the
spiritual influence that Judea had. So far, in our journey through the life of
Christ, we have seen Him spend the bulk of His ministry in Galilee.
One would expect Galilee
to be receptive of Him. He was her native son. The Pharisees were less
influential there than Judea. Jesus, the best preacher the world has ever seen,
gave most of His sermons there. In addition, He had done most of His miracles
in this region.
At first, this was
indeed the case. There was an initial enthusiasm that surrounded the new rabbi,
and the crowds flocked to Him, and marveled at His words and works. But as time
progressed, and the Pharisees infiltrated the reaction of the common people,
resistance toward His message hardened. Galilee never did develop the blood
lust toward Jesus that Judea had (John 7.1), but neither did she choose to
believe in the claims of Christ. She rejected His astounding sermons and
explained away His jaw dropping miracles.
Increasingly, this
growing resistance wore on Jesus. After months of patient work, powerful
preaching, constant travel, and authenticating miracles produced not belief,
but hardness of heart, Jesus has had enough. In the story under discussion
today (Matthew 11.20-30) He displays neither frustration, temper, or pique, but
He does pronounce, out of a holy anger, judgment on these cities that had seen
so much and yet had refused to believe.
The word He uses here,
'woe', is pregnant with implication. It is an expression of deep grief. But it
isn't an expression of His own deep grief about the hardness of the Galileans.
No, it is an expression of the emotion the Galilean cities would feel when the
judgment for their disbelief comes. 'Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee,
Bethsaida!' (Matthew 11.21). In this sense it reminds me of the global reaction
when the new Babylon is destroyed by God's judging hand. In fact, that
reaction, 'Alas, alas, that great city' (Revelation 18.19) uses the same Greek
word that is translated 'woe' in Matthew 11. In other words, when this judgment
comes, great sorrow will be felt by those who experience it.
To help drive through
the depth of meaning in the word Jesus used look at some of its synonyms:
adversity, anguish, burden, calamity, catastrophe, disaster, gloom, hardship,
headache, misery, misfortune, pain, tragedy, trouble, affliction, agony, care,
cataclysm, curse, dejection, depression, distress, grief, heartache,
heartbreak, lamentation, melancholy, rue, sadness, sorrow, trial, tribulation,
unhappiness, wretchedness, bemoaning, deploring, and grieving.
Why would all this come?
Because, in spite of Jesus' amazing ministry, their response was unbelief and a
refusal to yield to His claims.
Jesus then compares
these Galilean cities in which He had ministered to several Gentile cities that
the Jews of Jesus' day knew well. He asserted that if He had done the same
amount of ministry in them as He had done in Galilee they would have humbly
yielded to Him (Matthew 11.21-23). Consequently, judgment will come, and that
an awful one. In this sense He likened it to the fire and brimstone that fell
on Sodom, and said that Capernaum's judgment would be worse.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah John Martin, 1852 |
Jesus had said and done
things no one in the world had seen. Their response was to become increasingly
hard hearted. His response was to pronounce judgment, and to declare that this
judgment would bring them to the place of woe.
I do not know of a
single passage of Scripture in which there is contained such a complete
contrast as there is here in Matthew 11, other than perhaps Deuteronomy 30.
There, Moses places blessing on the one hand and cursing on the other hand, and
asks Israel to choose. To me, this is exactly what the Prophet greater than
Moses does in our story. He places woe on one side and then places rest on the
other, and asks Israel to choose.
And what a rest it is!
The word implies the refreshment and relaxation that follows hard labor. To
drive home the point look at some of its synonyms: vacation, calm, comfort,
downtime, dreaminess, ease, holiday, idleness, leisure, nap, peace, quiescence,
quiet, quietude, recess, recreation, refreshment, relaxation, relief, repose,
respite, siesta, silence, sleep, somnolence, stillness, tranquility.
Jesus offers this rest
to those who choose to come to Him. He is telling these hard hearted people
that He isn't trying to take advantage of them, or walk to a throne over their
crushed and bleeding bodies. Rather, if they will believe Him, and accept His
claims, He will pour on them the tremendous blessing of rest.
This rest is better than
a rest for your body; it is a rest for your soul (Matthew 11.29). When your
body is tired or sick you can rest for a comparatively short period of time and
recover, but when your soul is shattered into a million tiny jagged fragments
all the kings horses and all the kings men can't put it back together again –
but Jesus can.
We see here, then, laid
out before the people of Galilee two completely different scenarios, and their
destination was determined by their own choice. If they hardened their heart
still further to Him they would experience woe. If they yielded to Him in
humility, repentance, and faith, He would furnish them rest.
Beloved, I am absolutely
convinced, from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet, that this choice
not only faced the Galileans of Jesus' generation, but also faces the people of
our own day. It is the same choice that has come to each generation, including
our generation: woe or rest?
The gracious working of
God in a life is a curious thing. In some it produces repentance, faith, and
obedience. In some it produces hardness and rebellion. What it never produces
is neutrality. And the more of Himself that God has graciously given to you the
more true this is.
Twenty five years ago I
watched, for the very first time, a group of young people who grew up in
Christian homes, faced with the decision of whether to yield, in humility, to
the claims of Christ, or to, in hardheartedness, reject His claim on their life.
After going our separate ways after high school, and moving geographically to
another section of the country, I reconnected with many of them via Facebook
recently. It was downright eerie to see what had happened in their lives.
Perhaps I would not have noticed it as much if the transition had been gradual,
but suddenly I was confronted with the fully formed lives and families of those
whom I knew back in high school. With not a shred of coincidence, I noticed
that, by and large, those who back then had chosen the path of hardness and
rebellion were living now in a state of woe. On the other hand, those who had
chosen back then the path of humility and obedience, well, their life had
yielded to them the peaceable fruit of rest for their souls.
Blessing or cursing? Woe
or rest? The choice is yours, my friend, and it rests upon what you do with the
claims of Jesus Christ upon your life. Will you harden or will you yield?
If you would like to listen to the audio version of the blog you may find it here on our church website. Just press 'launch media player' and choose We Preach Christ 33, 'Woe or Rest'.
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