Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11:20-21 NABRE)
Jesus expresses disapproval toward Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, three towns in which he had performed many of his miracles. How is it, he must have wondered, people can be in the very presence of the Lord, witness his power over this physical world, and still not turn our hearts back to him? Imagine it, these towns were blessed as witnesses to Jesus' miracles yet he tells them Tyre and Sidon (two pagan cities denounced for their wickedness in the Old Testament)* will be better off on Judgment Day.
Perhaps we can learn from the examples of those towns who remained unwilling to turn their hearts to God. Perhaps we can adjust our perspective enough to see that we are not above all things but that God is; and that he asks us to turn to him with humble and contrite hearts.
Today, I will seek to spend time in the Lord's presence with a penitent heart.
Saints John Jones and John Wall, two friars who were martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny your faith, pray for us.
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| Source: http://bibleatlas.org/ |
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