09.28.08
Condemnation of Unbelief
The Curse of the Cities of Galilee (Matt. 11:20-30)
Condemnation of Unbelief (Matt. 11:20-24)
When you give irrefutable proof of something, and those that witnessed it reject it anyway…what then? Here, Jesus pronounces woe upon the cities that His miracles had been performed in. His words indicate that the hearts of the Jewish people were harder than the hearts of Gentiles. You see, if these miracles had been performed in the Gentile places, those folks would have believed His message and turned (repented) in faith to Him!
There is a price to be paid. That price remains today. If you hear the words of the Lord, the Living Word of Christ, and you choose to reject them, you do not enter the kingdom. In this set of scripture, you see the imagery of not being lifted to the skies and instead going down to the depths.
Let me throw out a concept here. Degrees of punishment are determined by the amount of light that one has received and rejected. What are your thoughts on that concept?
I’ve heard the story told of a man who lived a life like many others. He didn’t care much about the things of the Lord, but did his best to be a ‘good man’, doing the ‘right things’. He did accept Christ as his Savior, but other than attend church every now and again, that was pretty much the extent of his Christian growth.
Eventually, this man died. As promised, he got a home in heaven with Jesus! Upon his arrival at the pearly gates, he is greeted by one of the heavenly hosts and ushered in. He views that street of gold and starts to walk down it, admiring the mansions on either side and thinking to himself ‘I wonder which one is mine!’
As he goes further and further down the street, the mansions become more…middle class dwellings. ‘Not too bad,’ he thinks to himself, ‘this is certainly sufficient to meet my needs during eternity!’
But the journey continues, and the rent looks to continue to spiral down as he progresses down the street. His guide stops him near the end of the street in front of a shack that is barely holding together, it looks pretty sparse, small, and pathetic. ‘Here’s your dwelling!’ announces the angel. The man is shocked and can’t help but voice his disappointment, ‘Are you sure this is it? We passed many fine dwellings on our journey here.’
The angel looked at him and sighed, ‘We did the best that we could with what you sent up before your arrival.’
Ah – just an illustration of what many think of. And if the concept above caught your attention, perhaps you can think again about it. Remember last weeks lesson? In spite of the growing rejection of Christ and His person, the Gentiles saw the light and embraced it. The truth of what He had been teaching was validated – not only by His miracles and works – but also by the reception of His word by the Gentiles.
How much is expected of those that have been exposed to the truth of the Lord? I would contend that because the people had had the light of both Christ’s words and works, they were subject to greater judgment than the Gentiles who had not had that testimony.
So, for us today, many centuries removed from the happenings of Jesus. What light have we been exposed to? What are we doing about it? What are God’s expectations on us (we didn’t see the miracles, so are we less exposed to the light or more exposed)? Many are quick to lean on grace and cry ‘You created us Lord, You know we’re only human!’ If that is our stance, how will we measure up when we stand before Him at judgment day?
