Response to the Light – Matthew 11:20-24

One of my favorite singing artists is Brook Frasier and one of my favorite songs of hers is Albertine. Brook made a trip to Rwanda and saw the results of the terrible civil war that took place there between enemy tribes. The refrain she sings says,

now that I have seen, I am responsible, Faith without deeds is dead, now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are…

What she saw compelled her to do something about the problem. She was learning something that compelled a response, compelled action. She was responsible for what she knew.

This is the message of Jesus to us. Seeing who he is requires a response.

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:20-24 ESV)

Jesus has just told of the fickle response of Israel to both him and John the Baptist.  Had they received him and John it would have fulfilled Malachi 3 and 4 about the Elijah-prophet coming before Yahweh. But now he has a word of judgment for the towns of Israel where he and his disciples have preached the good news of the kingdom and been rejected, despite the towns seeing God’s mighty works through Jesus and his team.  Chorazin, Bethsaida, and even his new “hometown” Capernaum (where Peter lived) are condemned because of their rejection of the revelation and for their arrogance.

Jesus knows that if other sinful cities, cities that the people of Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum would label as ungodly, Tyre, Sidon and Sodom, had seen his miracles they would have repented.  This raises questions difficult to answer: why didn’t God send someone then to do such miracles, how does God’s choice of what to do figure into our ability to make choices, why was God determined to judge these cities.  Can anyone repent without God putting repentance in their hearts? We are dealing here with the mystery of God’s sovereignty coinciding with human responsibility and we have never been able to figure that out. But it is intriguing to consider.

Equally intriguing is the idea that in the final judgment of unbelievers there will be some who have a more tolerable judgment than others.  They won’t be awarded heaven but will be cast into the Lake of Fire, and yet within the Lake of Fire there will be some levels of punishment different than what others experience.  Revelation 20 seems to confirm this because it says these unbelievers are judged according to their deeds, which offers a chance to discriminate between those who were more evil than others. Dante had something right.

We are responsible for the amount of light we have been given by God, responsible to live in accord with the truth we have had revealed to us.  What am I doing with the truth God has given me?  Am I taking it for granted?  Am I sharing it with others?  Now that I have seen, I am responsible.