Hard Sayings - Woe to You, Chorazin

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." (Matt 11:21-24)

The text is well known. Jesus, speaking here, is denouncing unrepentant cities of Israel (Matt 11:20). And there are a couple of problematic things here.

First, there is that "It will be more bearable" concept. We tend to think that there is heaven or there is hell at the end. One will be glorious and the other will be horrible, but within these two there are no shades, no variations. Heaven is all good and hell is all bad. Now, to be sure, that's not universal. We've all heard of the "seventh level of hell" indicating a worse hell than, say, the 2nd level. Out of Dante's Inferno, the notion that some sins are worse than others isn't new, but we don't usually think of them that way. Well, here we have Jesus suggesting that it is true. Hell will be awful, but it will be worse for some than for others. That's difficult to ponder.

A lot of people, though, miss the second problem. Jesus here states a "would have" idea. He states with certainty what would have happened if things had been different. We call them "contingencies," and thinking about them could make you crazy. What would have happened if you had ...? The ripple effects of any one thing can go forever. Ultimately, what would have been is unknowable to us and, frankly, we're mostly happy about that because thinking it through could give you a migraine. I can't figure out how a chess player can plan all moves 10 moves ahead and Christ knew what would have happened if His miracles had been done in other places at other times. That's amazing and not particular problematic because we understand God to be omniscient. But then you consider. Jesus knew that if those miracles had been done, say, in Sodom, "it would have remained until this day." God knew that there was a possible approach in which Sodom would have repented ... and He didn't take it.

See the problem? We typically understand that it is God's will that everyone gets saved and here we have a plain presentation from the lips of Christ that God did not carry out the step required to do that for the people of Tyre and Sidon or Sodom (and who knows how many others?). If we let Jesus speak here, He seems to say that it is not God's divine plan to save everyone by any possible means. Now, it's clear that God has more than one type of will. We know, for instances, that He has what we might call a preceptive will -- that which He commands. Is it God's will that we don't commit murder? Yes, quite clearly. Do people commit murder? Yes, obviously. So, God's will is not accomplished! Yes, that's true -- His preceptive will. And Scripture talks about what God prefers. He "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim 2:4) He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek 33:11), yet He certainly carries it out. This would be His preferential will and some of that certainly doesn't happen. So, if Scripture is true, how can we conclude that God "works all things after the counsel of His will" (Eph 1:11)? That must refer to a sovereign will -- things that He wills and that always come to pass. We see this in Joseph's story where his brothers sought to kill him and then sold him into slavery. "You meant evil against me," he told his brothers, "but God meant it for good." (Gen 50:20) There were two "wills" at work in that -- the brothers' evil will and God's good will. Both occurred, but God used the evil for good. God didn't "will" the brothers to act that way -- He didn't cause or influence them to sin; they did that on their own. But He used their self-directed choice for His sovereign will.

Jesus, then, is saying that God knew that there were things He could do to save the people of Tyre, Sidon, Sodom, and, I would guess, others and God didn't do them. That means that God's preferential will is that everyone gets saved but His sovereign will has something else in mind. The idea, then, is that God allows the death of the wicked for a higher purpose. And the question becomes, "Is that okay with you?" If you say it's not, you stand an the amazing position that allows you to pass judgment on God. I'm not willing to go there. I will trust in Him even if He doesn't do what I think is right. Generous of me, isn't it?