"It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Matthew 11:16-30 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, ¹⁷ and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

²⁰ Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. ²⁷ All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

²⁸ “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. Jesus declares woe to these cities because they did not repent and turn from their wickedness upon seeing the miracles He performed. The truth is a city cannot repent. It is the people of the city who must repent. The city does no evil. It is filled with the evil of its citizens. The same is true of our country. People often say our nation needs to return to God. It needs to repent and seek forgiveness. It is the people of our nation who need to repent. Many in the church seek a revival, a renewing of love and obedience to God throughout our nation. Revival is for the church. Our nation is now too many generations removed from obedience to God. Our nation, its people and its leaders need an awakening. There is not enough knowledge of God’s truth left in much of our culture and society to revive. America needs to be awakened.

Our society and culture has gradually moved from obedience to God, to acceptance and tolerance of sin and now is moving to the final stage of complete rejection of God, denying even that He exists or is relevant. Why then would we not expect that America too would hear Jesus declare woe to her if He were here today.  This nation, its people have been so blessed by God, we have seen so many miracles throughout our brief history and even today, yet rather than repent and return to God, our society denies Him and runs from Him. America is not mentioned in the Bible. It is neither my desire or my concern to try to interpret how she or any other current government or political entity fits into God’s plan for the end of this age. What I do know is this: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Nations, governments and political entities do not have eternal life, throughout history they rise and fall.

In Matthew 28:19-20,  Jesus calls and commissions His disciples saying:   “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”         The nations Jesus calls us to make disciples of are not governments or political entities. The word nations used there is from the Greek word ethnos. It is the root of the English word ethnic. The nations which Jesus calls us to disciple are every race, tribe and tongue of man. Jesus Christ came so “that whoever believes in Him  shall not perish, but have eternal life.” God cares about each individual. In Daniel 2:20-21, it says:     "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. 21"It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.     The nation of Israel is the only one promised God’s eternal blessing. Other nations and leaders, He causes to rise and fall according to His will. It is individuals that God sent Jesus to die for, that whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life.

If we are to be obedient to Jesus call and commission it is individuals we need to pray for and make disciples of. They may be a young child or an elderly person. They may be living in luxury or living on the street. They may be unemployed, the lowest of servants or a king or powerful leader. God is no respecter of position and neither should we be. In John 9:4-5, Jesus says:     ^“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”   In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says:     “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.     We must work the works, we must let men see our good works.

In today’s text Jesus says:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”       Too many today are deceived, believing that the rest Jesus wants us to have is a rest of relaxation, comfort and slumber. Jesus does not say come sit in My recliner and rest. He says take my yoke upon you. A yoke is an instrument of difficult labor. It is labor used in the harvest, preparing the soil, reaping and gathering the grain. In Matthew 9:36-38 it says:      Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”     The rest Jesus calls us to and provides for us is a rest that comes when we join Him in His work. We can toil and strive to accomplish our own plans or we can take on the yoke of Christ, joining Him in His work, the work of the Father. In Christ our work will be easy. He has already done everything that needs to be done on the cross.

In Mark 16:15-18, Jesus says:    “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”     We are not responsible for the results, whether they are saved or condemned, whether they receive God’s blessing or woe. If we will yoke ourselves to Christ, He will do the work. He will perform the miracles and each one will have a choice.

May our prayer be like the psalmist, who says in Psalm 2:   Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing? ² The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ³ “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” ⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. ⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,
⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” ⁷ “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ⁸ ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ⁹ ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like ^]earthenware.’” ¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. ¹¹ Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. ¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!    Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen.