Bible Study series: Luke 10:13-16. Not every judgment is equal. Some sins are worse than others.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 10:13-16
13 Woe to you Chorazin, woe to you Bethsaida! Because if the miracles that happened among you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at judgment than for you! 15 And you Capernaum! Will you be exalted to the sky? You will descend to hades!
16 The one listening to you listens to me. And the one rejecting you rejects me. And the one rejecting me rejects the one who sent me.” (Luke 10:13-16)
Comments:
A brief cultural note: Sackcloth was a coarse, black fabric worn in order to mourn to repent (e.g. Job 42:6. Sitting on the sackcloth or lying in it was an ancient custom. One could also wear it and put ashes on one’s head (see Est. 4:1-3) (Liefeld and Pao, comments on vv. 13-14).
13-15:
Chorazin is unattested, but it probably a small village. Bethsaida is a larger town on the north of the Lake of Galilee. Capernaum was his operating base. Tyre and Sidon are two notorious cities in the OT and in his day, and they were pagan centers. They will do better at judgment than the predominantly Jewish cities which were blessed because Jesus ministered to them powerfully. Yes, the more light one has, the more accountability.
“miracles”: it is the plural of the noun dunamis (pronounced doo-nah-mees). It can be translated as “miracle,” but more often as “power” or “miraculous power.” It means power in action, not static, but kinetic. It moves. Yes, we get our word dynamite from it, but God is never out of control, like dynamite is. Its purpose is to usher in the kingdom of God and repair and restore broken humanity, both in body and soul. For nearly all the references of that word and a developed theology, please click on my post here:
What Are Signs and Wonders and Miracles?
“repented”: it is the verb metanoeō (pronounced meh-tah-noh-eh-oh), and “to repent” literally means “to change (your) mind.” And it goes deeper than mental assent or agreement. Another word for repent is the Greek stem streph– (including the prefixes ana-, epi-, and hupo-), which means physically “to turn” (see Luke 2:20, 43, 45). That reality-concept is all about new life. One turns around 180 degrees, going from the direction of death to the new direction of life.
Now let’s look at the doctrine of judgment.
Yes, Jesus is employing firm rhetoric—even harsh rhetoric—but there are theological truths here that explain the strong rhetoric. First, the names of the towns stand in for people. It’s not clear (to me at least) how God through Christ will judge towns and individuals in the town, but he will. But towns seem to take on an ethos or character, probably because neighbors copy each other. It is easy to imagine, however, that a few people may have welcomed or would have welcomed the kingdom of God. If a few adults broke free from the crowd of unbelief, then God will judge them differently, like Lot and his family escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah. In other words, God distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked. Abraham asked God, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen. 18:25, ESV). The answer is yes.
What Happens to Children after They Die?
Second, people are judged according to the light they have. Sodom had very little light other than moral law, which they completely ignored to the point of extreme crimes, wreaking damage on people. So their judgment on earth was devastating and final. Now imagine how the judgment will be on these towns named in this pericope (pronounced peh-RIH-coh-pea) or section! They had a much brighter light than just moral law. They had the kingdom of God and the Messiah in their midst. If the towns could not accept them, then their judgment will be severe. With greater gifts and light come greater responsibility. If people reject God’s gifts and light, then their judgments will be severe.
See my posts on judgment will be the same and what happens to people:
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
Bible Basics about the Final Judgment
“Hades”: The term is not as clear in the details as we have been taught. It is mentioned 10 times in the NT: Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14. And Matt. 11:23 // Luke 10:15 are parallels, so the number of distinct times is actually nine. And hades is not elaborated on in detail, and not even in Revelation, except for some symbolic usage. Hades will even be thrown in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14).
16:
There is a chain of command. People who listen (and obey) the missionaries are not really listening to and obeying them, but Jesus. Missionaries need to get their perspective right. They are working for the Lord. When they have success, it is Jesus’s success. On the other hand, if people reject the missionaries, the people are not really rejecting them, but Jesus and the one who sent him (the Father). Such rejection is serious business. No wonder Sidon and Tyre will experience lighter sentencing than the other towns.
Jesus had a divine sense of mission. The Father sent him. Some skeptics say that John is clear about God sending Jesus, while Luke (and Matthew and Mark) merely hints at it in such clauses as “I have been sent” or “I have come.” Therefore, the four Gospels are irreparably inconsistent and contradictory (they claim). The critics overemphasize the nuances, of course. John tells and shows loudly, and the Synoptic Gospel writers show and tell more subtly, for those who can see. John drops all subtleties, probably since his Gospel is the last one, so he does not need to be secretive to his readers.
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
Jesus singles out Capernaum, because it was his home base (Matt. 4:13; Mark 2:1), and he had a successful ministry there (Matt. 8:14-17; 9:1-7; Luke 4:23, 31-37; 7:1-10; John 2:12; 6:24-25). If all of the people did not fully repent, then his adopted hometown would undergo severe judgment.
In contrast, I heard two TV preachers, who focus on the Word of Faith and now the Grace Revolution, tell their audience that God is not a judging God. They are wrong. Judgment is coming, and don’t let the Happy Highlight preachers tell you otherwise.
Everyone Shall Be Judged by Their Works and Words
“to you”: this word refers to the seventy-two disciples. He who listens to them listens to Jesus.
GrowApp for Luke 10:13-16
1. What do you think about God judging people based on the light they had? Does that seem just or unjust? Why?
2. How have you dealt with rejection of your Christian faith?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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