Matthew 11:20-24
20 Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.
21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
23 And as for you, Capernaum: 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.' For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
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Jesus so hard on Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because these are places where he walked and taught, and performed miracles that displayed for all His divinity and His mercy. He walked among them, He did His thing, and despite Him revealing His glory to them, they didn't repent.
And ... He says that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for them. Recall that Christ is the one doing the judging. He's telling them exactly what will happen on that day. .
As I sat down to write this morning, I thought about how this relates to me. I don't live in these towns. I go to Church every Sunday. Clearly I'm not the kind of person He's talking about.
Then I considered these things:
1. Every time we go to mass we participate in a miracle greater than any witnessed by those in Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, or anywhere else. Every Sunday we witness Christ transform bread and wine into His body and blood.
2. "Repent" doesn't mean "I'm sorry", it means "I'm on the wrong path, I'm not going to act like this anymore." That's a HUGE difference. Those of us who have kids know exactly what it looks like - because we see our kids say "I'm sorry" but not be repentant darn near every day. We see them hanging their heads because they've been caught, saying what they need to say, then going right back and doing the same thing again.
3. According to what Christ says above, if I am unrepentant, He will be harder on me than He will be on Sodom.
Repentance is something we need to do over and over in our lives. As we grow in Christ, He shows us more and more of our life that needs to be changed. He shows us where we're walking down the wrong path, and that we need to repent. In time, we see pieces of our life that need to be put to death for us to truly follow Him.
How do I react when that happens? Do I cling to something worldly that I know and love, or do I respond to Christ's call? If I actually make it to Reconciliation, do I just say "I'm sorry", or do I commit to changing?
