Warnings From The Son of Man Luke 10:13-16 Introduction

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1 Introduction According to a radio report, a middle school in Oregon faced a unique problem. A number of girls began to use lipstick and put it on in the bathroom. After they put on their lipstick, they pressed their lips to the mirrors leaving dozens of little lip prints. Finally the principal decided something had to be done. She called the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the custodian. She explained lip prints caused a major problem for the custodian, who had to clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was, she asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He took out a long handled brush, dipped it into the toilet, and scrubbed the mirror. Since then there have been no lip prints on the mirrors. We are often tempted to sin, if we could only see the real filth we d be kissing, we wouldn t be attracted to it. We press our lips to surfaces were they do not belong. The Bible is filled with warnings. The Bible is filled with warnings and promises to individuals and nations. Don t be indifferent. Don t be apathetic. Stop sitting on the sidelines. Don t ignore sin. Don t reject the Lord. The consequences are more than you can bear. Some might read the words of Jesus as a little harsh. Are you easily offended? If someone says something critical, or severe do you automatically place them in the camp of hypercritical, faultfinding, nitpicking, hairsplitting, judgmental heresy hunters? There are several things we can do with the warnings of Jesus. We can of course ignore them. We can attempt to explain them away. Or we can make every effort to heed them and obey them! In this section of Scripture, Jesus names three cities that fell under the judgment of God; Sodom (v.12; Gen.19); and Tyre and Sidon (v.13; Ezek.26-28; Isa.23). Jesus uses them to warn three cities of his day; Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. These three cities were given undreamed opportunities, Jesus showed up, Jesus performed miracles, Jesus spoke life changing words, Jesus appeared and announced the Kingdom of God had arrived! To hear Jesus is to hear God. To hear Christ s ambassadors means to hear Jesus and to despise his representatives is to despise Him. Jesus said, As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you (John 20:21). The way a nation treats an ambassador is the way it treats the government the ambassador represents (Warren Wiersbe; TBEC Vol.1; p.210). Earlier Jesus said (v.10) But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, (v.11) The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near you. 1

2 (v.12) But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. We learned Jesus instructed his messengers to walk away from the rejecter. The city or sinner that rejects Jesus Christ is issued a warning; the warning is intended to cause a person to think more deeply about the Lord and change their mind and their heart about Jesus. Shaking the dust off the feet was a silent testimony that God was doing what they wanted, leaving them alone to walk through life as they desired. We learned that separation from God and the rejection of God s provision of grace results in judgment. Rejecting God does not simply leave a person open and vulnerable to judgment, rejecting God makes judgment inevitable. The Warning: Regard The Works Of Jesus! (v.13a) Luke 10:13 (NKJV); Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. Woe is not a call for vengeance or punishment, but an expression of deep regret, or warning. The city of Chorazin was located about two miles north of Capernaum. I have visited the ruins of Khirbet Kerazeh, basalt stones piled on top of one another, it is an abandoned uninhabited place. Bethsaida means the house of fish or the place of fishing. It may also have been part of the neighborhood north of Capernaum. This was the home of Peter and Philip, this was the place where the blind man was healed in Mark8:22; the place near where the feeding of the 5,000 took place. What mighty works were done in Chorazin? We are not told. John 21:25 (NLT); And I suppose that if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books. What would a short list of mighty works look like? We know Jesus turned water into wine in Cana not far from Chorazin and Bethsaida (Jn.2:7-8). We know Jesus healed the nobleman s son (Jn.4:50). Jesus healed the demoniac in Capernaum (Mk.1:25; Lk.4:35). Jesus healed Peter s mother-in-law; healed a paralytic, healed a man with a withered hand, healed the centurion s servant, raised the widow s son, calmed the stormy sea, delivered the demoniac of Gadara, healed a woman with internal bleeding, raised Jairus daughter from the dead, healed two blind-men, healed an invalid, feed 5,000, walked on water, feed four thousand, healed a blind man in Bethsaida, healed a man born blind, caught a fish with a coin in its mouth and that is before Luke chapter 10! The miracles of Jesus caused some people to believe, and further hardened the unbeliever. Those who are exposed to the person, the work, the miracles of Jesus have an even greater responsibility to accept Him. 2

3 Chorazin and Bethsaida had opportunities unimagined by Tyre and Sidon. Chorazin and Bethsaida had the opportunity to see, to observe and then to accept Jesus Christ as God s Messiah. Tyre and Sidon never had such opportunities. Tyre and Sidon were fortress cites. The purple dye of Tyre had a worldwide celebrity on account of the durability of its beautiful tints, and its manufacture proved a source of abundant wealth to the inhabitants of that city. Both Tyre and Sidon were crowded with glass-shops, dyeing and weaving establishments; and among their cunning workmen not the least important class were those who were celebrated for the engraving of precious stones. ( 2 Chr. 2:7, 14 ). 1 The wickedness and idolatry of this city are frequently denounced by the prophets, and its final destruction predicted ( Isa. 23:1 ; Jer. 25:22 ; Ezek. 26 ; 28:1 19 ; Amos 1:9, 10 ; Zech. 9:2 4 ). 2 People will often ask me questions about aboriginal people groups, what about the people who never heard the gospel? I usually respond with; I will tell you the answer to that question, but first what about you? You do know the gospel. You have heard the story of Jesus. You are without excuse. The Jewish leaders asked Jesus for a sign twice, in John 2 and John 6. In John 2 Jesus offered the sign, tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it up. In John 6 the Jewish leaders asked for bread from heaven, like Moses gave manna in the wilderness. What sign are you looking for? What are you willing to accept as evidence that Jesus is the Lord? The Warning: Repent Of Your Sins! (v.13b) Luke 10:13 (NKJV); Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. Jesus contrasts his mighty works in the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida with two wicked Gentile cities Tyre and Sidon. 1 Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. 2 Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. 3

4 Lesslie Newbigin a long time missionary to wrote a book entitled Mission in Christ s Way; I remember once visiting a village in the Madras Diocese. There was no road into the village; you reached it by crossing a river, and you could do this either on the south side of the village or on the north. The congregation had decided that I would come by the southern route, and they had prepared a welcome such as only an Indian village can prepare. There was music and fireworks and garlands and fruit and silumbum (the performance of a South Indian martial art done on ceremonial occasions) everything you can imagine. Unfortunately I entered the village at the north end and found only a few goats and chickens! Crises! I had to disappear while word was sent to the assembled congregation, and the entire village did a sort of U-turn so as to face the other way. Then I duly reappeared. This is what metanoia (repent) means. The point is: The reign of God has drawn near, but you can t see it because you are looking the wrong way. You are expecting the wrong thing. What you think is God isn t God at all. You have to be, as Paul says, transformed by the renewing of your mind. You have to go through a mental revolution; otherwise the reign of God will be totally hidden from you (Mission in Christ s Way; pp.2-3). What will motivate you to repent of your sins? Matthew 4:17 (NKJV); From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Acts 28:23 (NKJV); So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. Deliverance can come to us only by the defeat of our old life. Safety and peace come only after we have been forced to our knees. God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance. A. W. Tozer ( ) God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers he uses to crush us with. If God would only use his own fingers and make us broken bread and poured out wine in a special way! But when he uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object. Oswald Chambers ( ) The Warning: Remember The Consequences of Sin! (v.14-16) Luke 10:14-16 (NKJV);14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. 16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me. The expression; And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades is very interesting. In the original language Luke uses me which indicates a negative answer; the NASB; And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? 4

5 Luke 10:15 (NLT); And you people of Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the place of the dead. Marshall comments; The force of the question, Do you really expect to be raised to heaven because I visited you? Because Jesus showed up, performed miracles, because at the city of limits of Capernaum there is a sign that reads, HOME TOWN OF JESUS CHRIST you think you are going to avoid judgment? and will be brought down to Hades. For those who received a constant witness, for those who were told over and over again that Jesus Christ is the way out of their sin, they will receive the greatest judgment of all. Do people who reject Jesus Christ really go to hell? Jesus described hell as a place of unquenchable fire (Matt.3:12; 13:41-42; Mark 9:43). It will be a place of memory and regret (Luke 16:19-31). It will be a place of unquenchable thirst (Luke 16:24). It will be a place of misery and pain (Rev.14:10-11). It will be a place of frustration and anger (Matt.13:42; 24:51). It will be a place of undiluted divine wrath and judgment (Hab.3:2; Rev.14:10). It is a place originally prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt.25:41). It will be a place created for all eternity (Dan.12:2; Matt.25:46; Jude 7). I know some of you are thinking, I don t like hell fire and damnation sermons. I don t believe there is a hell. I know. That s the irony. You will spend eternity in a place you don t believe in now, because you have rejected a person who asks you to believe in now. 2 Samuel 10:1-18 Mark 12:1-12 Have you stopped asking the questions, What is true? What is right? Have you started asking the question, What is safe? That is the question of the hypocrite and crowd-pleaser. Your sins are leading you somewhere and the place your sin is taking you is not a safe place. Conclusion I am nothing. But my message is everything. The messenger of Christ is to be given the most serious hearing possible, for the messenger of Christ speaks for Christ. The messenger is counted as if Jesus himself were speaking. Rejecting me and everything associated with me my opinions, my ideas, my self-serving, self-exalting illustrations has no real consequence. But when I present Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for you sins, buried and risen from the dead, for your redemption. When I extend Jesus Christ s offer of eternal life on His behalf, I speak with the authority of Christ himself. To reject 5

6 that message is a serious offense. It is counted as the very rejection of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ. 6