rejecting the light of Jesus

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

Matthew 11:20

Jesus was able to compare the fates of thes Jewish cities to some of the infamous Gentile cities of sin because He had preached and healed in them and they had not repented. They had been visited by God Himself, but did not welcome Him. This is a tragic turn in the ministry of Jesus. The disciples had been sent out to multiply the call to repentance. Jesus Himself had performed miracles in these towns. But in the end they would face judgment for rejecting Him. They would suffer fates worse than some of the notorious wicked cities about which the Old Testament had spoken God’s fiercest judgments.

When God calls all before Him at the final judgment, the people who have rejected Jesus outright will suffer the worst punishment. Jesus knew this. He said that Tyre, Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah would all fare better with lesser punishments than the cities that rejected the light of Jeus and His works among them. The degree of final judgment would be so much greater for them.

Tyre and Sidon were condemned for making their kings gods. And the sad degeneracy of Sodom and Gomorrah is a lesson in human depravity. Yet Jesus said it would be better for them as sentence is passed than for the cities we read about in the gospels where Jesus did His mighty works. The light of Jesus is a bright light and to ignore Jesus, rejecting Him, is to find no hope in the end.