Reflection on Matthew 11:20-24

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Tuesday, July 15, 2020

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reacts to rejection in a more specific manner. He has previously spoken in general of those who reject him when he said, To what shall I compare this generation?…For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works (Matt. 11:16-19), but now he is singling and calling out the names of towns where he has met rejection. After doing lots of mighty deeds like healings and exorcism in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, they still refused to repent of their sins. Of particular interest here is Capernaum, for it is called from biblical time till today The Town of Jesus. Why? Because at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum (Mat. 4:13), making it his “own town” (Mat. 9:1). These three towns were not large towns. They were fishing and farming villages that are not far apart from each other. Going to bigger cities and towns could have given Jesus more access to larger crowds. But Jesus wanted opportunities to interact with women, children, fishermen, farmers and ordinary people after preaching to huge crowds. He wanted to share meals and befriend ordinary people in ordinary villages. He wanted to have personal contacts with men, women, and children who live in those towns. Yes, he was sent to the people of Israel but to them as individuals, not anonymous faces in a crowd.  

But despite the personal attention Jesus gave to the people of these towns, they still refused to repent. Central to Jesus preaching was the call to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt. 4:17). Repentance meant accepting Jesus, who in Christian standpoint is the kingdom of God or what Origen called, “Autobasileia” (the Kingdom in Person). To Jesus’ great disappointment, the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum refused to accept him and his message. So, rather than commend them, he turns against them: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! “Woe to you” is the opposite of “blessed are you.” At the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus recognizes those who are blessed. But in his “woe” speech, he reproaches three towns for their unrepentance. He tells them that if the mighty deeds done in their town were done in pagan cities like Tyre and Sidon and Sodom, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes and that Sodom wouldn’t have been destroyed. He also warns that on the judgment day, God will judge the pagan towns less harshly. Jews believe there will be a day of judgment when God would sort out those who did good from those who did evil. For many Jews, pagan nations would not fare very well on judgment day since they did not know and obey Yahweh’s law. But Jesus is rejecting their views and also warning them that those who witnessed his mighty deeds and still rejected him will be judged more severely than pagans who had no opportunity to respond to Jesus. 

Dearest beloved, we have experienced and witnessed so many mighty deeds of the Lord. Have these mighty deeds lead us to respond to him in love?