“Woe to you…” ~ reflex on Mt 11:20-24

The Gospels don’t record Jesus reproaching whole cities very often. “Woe to you” is a lament and a serious warning to the people in these places. So why these cities?

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are Jewish communities in Galilee, and so they know the Law of Moses and are familiar with Jesus and his miracles and preaching, and should recognize the signs of the Messiah in their midst. But they have refused to turn from their sins to accept the gift of salvation Jesus has come to give. Tyre and Sidon, on the other hand, are Gentile cities who would not be expected to understand who and what Jesus is. And yet Jesus says that if they had seen the same mighty deeds, they would have repented of their sins. Clearly, the Jewish cities have greater responsibility.

The apparent anger Jesus is expressing does not come from being offended by the rejection of his teaching for his own sake; it rises from his wounded heart, which so desires each of us to love the One whose love saves us, and without which we cannot be saved. He has come as love to draw us back to love; his reproach is full of mourning, because Jesus knows that love that is rejected leads only to misery.

God’s plan of salvation since the Original Sin is to re-establish loving trust between humanity and God -  the trust that was the foundation of the relationship between the Creator and created beings and which was shattered by the DIStrust of Adam and Eve. They turned from God because they believed the lie that if they were going to be happy, they would need to do the very thing they were told not to do. They distrusted that the Father was completely FOR them, that He was arranging things perfectly, so they chose to take what was not theirs to take. The whole of salvation history is a rebuilding of that loving trust, step by step, grace by grace.

The Son of God became the Son of Man to rescue us from our slavery to sin and darkness and death, so that we can live in the glorious freedom of the children of our loving Father. But instead of choosing to trust and accept Jesus and his teaching, many witnesses in these cities are filled with scorn and ingratitude. He came to rescue them from sin and selfishness and they turned away to preserve their own status quo; Jesus knows that eventually, they will crucify him rather than receive the gift of salvation he has brought them.

And so he is begging them to open their minds and their hearts to receive this awesome offer of Rescue from the Heart of Love, so that they (and we!) can take up the yoke of true freedom and follow in his footsteps to the life of love and glory with Him forever.

This is what the Lord wants for each of us as well.