Woe to You, Chorazin!

The Chorazin Synagogue Today

"Woe to you, Bethsaida!" "Woe to you, Capernaum!"

Late Spring, AD 28

What was it about Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum that ticked Jesus off so much? Jesus said that if the miracles that happened in these three cities had happened in Tyre or Sidon or Sodom--cities that opposed God--they would fare better than the cities where Jesus spent most of his time.

But tiny Chorazin?  Here's a look at the extent of this small town:

The Town-site of Chorazin

The historian Eusebius in the fourth century was aware of the fate of Chorazin, and mused that its destruction was fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus.

Let's take a deeper look at the things that ticked Jesus off (except for hypocrisy in the religious class, his pet peeve). One complaint was that the crowds following him were looking for marvelous signs rather than responding to his message. The message that earned the name "gospel" (good news) went like this: "REPENT! And believe the Good News of the Kingdom of God." It's clear that not enough belief in the good news, and especially not enough repenting, were taking place.

The religious class (Pharisees and Sadducees) weren't helping this a bit. Instead, they were challenging Jesus to perform some really big SIGN (miracle) that would prove that Jesus was an emissary of God. The crowds, egged on by this challenge, showed up by the hundreds and more to witness the big event, but Jesus refused their request. The only sign that they would be given would be the day that Jesus arose from the grave.

With a few scraps of food, Jesus fed 5,000-plus people, and then again 4,000-plus people. When they came looking for him again Jesus said, "You're not looking for me because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the bread" that he produced miraculously (John 6:26).

Jesus summed the situation up succinctly thus: "While seeing they don't perceive, and while hearing, they don't understand." His constant refrain became, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

"If you have ears to hear, then hear."

Jesus' curse against Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum is found in the Bible twice. The first occurrence is at Matthew 11:20-24 after Jesus answers the question sent to him by John the Baptist. This takes place in the summer of AD 28 during the second year of Jesus' ministry. Here Matthew collects the varying responses to Jesus' message in chapters 11:2 through 12:50.

The second occurrence is at Luke 10:13-16, as part of Jesus' instructions for the seventy-two disciples he is sending out into the field to prepare the way for his own arrival (Lk 10:1). This takes place in late Autumn of AD 29, during Jesus' third year of ministry. Here Luke skillfully weaves the Chorazin story into the lesson that the seventy-two can expect no better response to the Gospel than Jesus himself received.

There is no reason to believe that Jesus did not proclaim these curses more than once: In his travels from town to town there is little doubt that Jesus had a stump speech (like our current politicians) where he repeated the lessons needed to be heard by his listeners. But the Gospel writers are interested less in a chronological re-telling than the importance of the lessons themselves and that they be placed in settings in which they might be "heard" -- truly understood.

What is the lesson here for you and I? I suggest that if we approach Jesus wishing and expecting a particular message, that is the message we will hear. Unless we open our minds and hearts to Jesus and become teachable, we will miss what he has for us. We have a great capacity for hearing what we want to hear and seeing what we want to see. It is the Holy Spirit in our lives that opens us up to hear and see what Jesus wants us to hear and see.

Finally, there is a sculpture which overlooks the ruins of Chorazin yet today. In it Jesus teaches the message of the Good News to his disciples, against the backdrop of dead Chorazin, which had the chance, but will never hear.

Jesus Teaches the Twelve