OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT IS COMMENSURATE WITH REVELATION

Having just spoken to the people about their propensity for rejecting the servants of God who were sent to them, Jesus, in Matthew chapter 11 verses 20 - 24, rebuked the cities in which He had done great miracles and yet had found excuses not to turn back to God.

20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

In this passage, the Lord Jesus revealed the operation of a relative scale of judgement in the kingdom of heaven that is pegged to the level of investment that is sunk into the territory for the redemption of its people.

Tougher measures of judgement were allotted to the cities in which many great signs were done for them to witness and yet did not repent and turn to God.

The cities in the time of Jesus like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, had been visited by Jesus and great miracles had been performed there but instead of taking the miracles as gracious invitations to repent, these cities judged and scandalized Jesus for doing miracles on the Sabbath day and for eating and drinking and associating with outcasts. They formulated excuses to diminish the significance of the message that was brought to them.

As a case study, Capernaum, a city near the sea of Galilee, had these miracles, among many others, occur within its vicinity;

• Healing of the man with the withered arm
• Healing of the woman with the issue of blood
• Raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead
• Delivering a demoniac in the synagogue
• Healing of Peter's mother-in-law
• Healing of many people who came for help

Because of the many miracles that occured there, the Lord Jesus singled out the city of Capernaum as an example of a city that would suffer great judgement.

He had chosen Capernaum to be the epicenter of His ministry which elevated it in prominence before heaven and yet it would fall into Hades because the people did not repent inspite of all the miracles that were performed there.

Jesus compared the city of Capernaum to the ancient city of Sodom saying that Sodom, a lawless city in the time of Abraham, would have repented and been spared from destruction if the people had seen the same miracles that the people of Capernaum had seen.

The opposite end of this sliding scale represents the people who, with almost no leading and no attesting miracles, repented of their sins and cried out to God for mercy. 

The city of Niniveh, for example, had a reluctant prophet named Jonah sent to them  and he merely crossed from one end of the city to the other warning of a coming judgement and yet, in response,  the whole city, including the king and the animals, were cloaked in sackcloth and ashes and they repented for their sins before God.

Mercy was shown to Ninevah on account of their unreserved reaction to the lean presentation by Jonah.

This sliding scale of judgement can be manipulated by regulating the amount of revelation that the people are exposed to.

Mark chapter 4 verses 11 - 12 captures this in action where Jesus explains to His disciples why He spoke in parables;

11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”

The disciples were in the kingdom and it was for them that the mysteries were revealed but for those outside the kingdom, these mysteries are hidden in parables lest they understand and turn and their sins are forgiven.

If, however, they receive the greater understanding and do not repent, they are subject to greater judgement and would have been better off not being exposed to the knowledge prescribed for those already in the kingdom of God.

Amen.

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