 the unrepentant cities. Throughout these repentance and a nutshell videos we've been looking at what repentance means and I've been arguing pretty consistently that it doesn't mean turn from your sins to be saved. So obviously we've been looking at various passages that people use to try and refute that and so in this video we're going to be looking at Matthew 10 and 11 and also its parallel passage in Luke 9 and 10 and this is where Jesus upbrades the cities for not repenting. So we do need to rewind and get some context of that as well so let's take a look. We need to understand then why did the cities in Matthew 11 and Luke 10 not repent? What did their lack of repentance look like? What exactly were they upbraided for? What were they supposed to do in order to repent? So at the beginning of Matthew chapter 11 in verse 1 it says, and it came to pass when Jesus had made an end to commanding his 12 disciples, he departed then to teach and preach in their cities. So this gives us a bit of background. Jesus has equipped and sent out his 12 disciples, this is discussed in Matthew chapter 10 which we will look at some of that chapter later and it's also covered in Luke 9 as well. Now in Luke's Gospel in chapter 10 it also tells us that there were 70 disciples that were sent out as well so some of the stuff that's in Matthew's account in one chapter is kind of split across two chapters in Luke's Gospel account. So if we read further down in Matthew 11 in verses 20 to 24 it says that then began he, that's Jesus, to upbraide the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not, woe unto thee, chorusing, woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which had been done in you had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. So of course people say there it is right there he upbraided the cities for not repenting. So you know you know Nonsense Christianity you look pretty stupid going around telling everybody that the Bible never says repent of your sins to be saved. Well if you think that then once again I urged to call upon your elementary school to teach you how to read because it doesn't actually say that they repented not of their sins. Now of course this is the bit where everybody says to me repent means to turn from sins. Well I've already made it plainly obvious in previous videos in this series that repentance does not automatically mean turn from sin. The Bible describes God repenting and God has no sin. Sometimes the context of repentance is not a sin issue. The context tells us what is being repented of to or from. If sin is not the context of repentance then repentance is not about sin in such a passage. So the context in Matthew and Luke tells us in what way the cities did not repent. But we haven't read these verses yet so let's take a look. So if we wind back to before the cities are upbraided in either Matthew or Luke Jesus is going to send his disciples out to preach. He's giving them the power to cast out devils and to do miracles. In Matthew's account we also see that they are focusing on the lost sheep of Israel. So they are primarily going out to Jewish audiences rather than Gentile ones. Then as we get down to verse 7 it says and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And this is very similar to what John the Baptist and Jesus said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand minus the word repent itself. And we have seen in previous videos what this means. Believe in the Christ that is here being preached. We saw that in video number 4 when we looked at John the Baptist's message of repentance and in video 6 when Jesus carried on this same message. Further down in verses 11 to 14 then Jesus then essentially says that they will encounter two types of people. There will be those who are worthy and there will be those who are unworthy. And we see that those who will receive them and not receive them or hear their words and not hear their words. They're the ones that are either worthy or not worthy depending on what city or house they approach. Now in Matthew's account we saw that they are preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand and Luke's account it tells us also that they are preaching the gospel. But it will also call it the kingdom in chapter 10. So this is important. What is the gospel? Well comparing Matthew 10 and Luke 9 and 10 the gospel is the kingdom and linking this with our previous studies in John and Jesus' message of repentance aka the good news of eternal life that is here. 1 Corinthians 15 explains that the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Romans 10 tells us that it's glad tidings, good news, good things, gospel of peace and it is the report to be believed. Now your obedience and your works are not the gospel. The good news is what Jesus did. It's not what you did. So you must make sure that you grasp this okay. Jesus is sending his disciples out to preach and to do miracles and they're going to encounter two types of people okay. There's going to be those that receive them and hear their words and they are worthy and they hear the gospel of the kingdom and then there's those who will not receive and will not hear their words and will not receive the gospel and are not worthy. This is perfectly simple to understand. Two types of people. Now then watch this because this is also important. What will happen to the cities or houses or whosoever's who will not receive the disciples and will not hear their gospel message? What is Jesus' judgment on those people? Jesus says in Matthew 10 15 it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Now don't forget this. Jesus is going to repeat this in the next chapter of Matthew when he condemns the cities. So don't miss this okay. Those that won't receive the disciples who won't hear the gospel it will be more intolerable for them on the day of judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay so again this is perfectly simple. Now again this is also important. Don't miss this. What of the cities and houses and whosoever's that don't receive the disciples? What will this look like? What are the disciples to expect? Well Matthew 10 goes on to tell us that they shall deliver you up to councils and governors and to scourge you etc. This is in verses 17 to 19. Family members or brethren shall deliver each other to death verse 21. And you shall be hated for my namesake and persecutor that's in verses 22 to 23. So the context of the unrepentant cities is introduced with the sending out of the disciples but there is more because Jesus will also speak of John the Baptist. Let's see what he has to say. So we read in Matthew 11, 2 and 3 that John the Baptist has been put in prison and it seems like John is having doubts and sent two of his disciples to inquire to ask about this Christ that John had already baptized. In verses 4 to 6 Jesus then gives them a message to return to John. While Jesus and his disciples have been going about preaching in the various cities, many miracles are occurring. Blind receive sight, lame walk etc etc and also the gospel is being preached and he finishes it saying blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. In verse 7 Jesus then begins to say unto multitudes about John the Baptist so he's preaching to the multitudes of people essentially and it appears that the multitudes Jesus was speaking to were aware of John the Baptist's doings in the wilderness because they had gone out to see it and he's asking them rhetorically what they went to see, what kind of person did they think John the Baptist is. In verses 10 and 11 Jesus then tells us that John the Baptist is the one of whom it was prophesied that he would prepare the way of the Lord and we saw that in video number four previously in the series when we looked at John the Baptist message of repentance and Jesus tells us that John the Baptist was the greatest ever born of women yet he who is least or lowest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. Now why would John the Baptist be the greatest among women and yet even the lowest person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. How does that make any sense because at first glance it seems like that's quite nonsensical it's quite mysterious why Jesus says this. Well I personally think that the most helpful interpretation of this statement can be found by cross referencing it with John chapter 3 and this is where Jesus is talking about being born again. In John chapter 3 Jesus says that you have to be born of water and of spirit to enter the kingdom in verse 5. Now many people misunderstand the meaning of born of water in verse 5 to refer to baptism but if you compare it with the next verse by rule of contrast you can see that water is contrasted with the spirit just as flesh is contrasted with the spirit so they mean the same thing and even though Nicodemus did misunderstand what Jesus was saying here regarding the spirit he didn't confuse the birth with the ordinance of baptism rather he confused it with the physical birth because that's how born of water is interpreted and the Bible says we are baptized into Christ's death not his birth. So you can look at it this way. John the Baptist was one of the greatest people who ever lived as somebody who was born of women okay or born of flesh or born of water right. Now being born spiritually in the kingdom of heaven makes you greater than anybody who's been born of women. Now obviously John the Baptist was saved so he was you know born in the spirit but Jesus is making a point here. Being saved spiritually even to be least in the kingdom of heaven is better than being the greatest fleshly person that ever lived of any status whether they be a prophet or a king or otherwise. So Jesus is emphasizing the greatness and importance of being saved onto eternal life being born again as a citizen in the kingdom. Going back to Matthew 11 then and from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force for all the prophets and the lower prophesied until John and if you will receive it this is Elias which is to come. Now again we have more of these cryptic statements by Jesus don't we? How is there violence in the kingdom? What does that mean? Well I've discussed in previous videos that entering into the kingdom is synonymous with believing on Christ and having everlasting life and we even see that association in John chapter 3 which we've just looked at. So the kingdom has suffered violence since the time of John the Baptist. Well what did John start? John started the message of repentance in that he was pointing people to the coming Christ and his kingdom that he was bringing and of course he was fulfilling Old Testament prophecy in the person of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Now we've just seen that John the Baptist was later put in prison and after his message obviously we know that eventually he was killed and as we have seen how Jesus warned his disciples about the persecution that's going to come when they preach the gospel to various cities and houses they're going to be persecuted and all this just for preaching the message of eternal salvation and sharing the kingdom and of course Jesus himself will also be crucified as well. So John came preaching they hated him put him in prison had him killed Jesus came preaching they had him crucified and the disciples came preaching and they were persecuted although perhaps the persecution of the disciples is more clearly documented in the book of Acts rather than the four gospel accounts. I believe that that would be the clearest interpretation of the kingdom suffering violence. Following his statement about the violence Jesus then gives us a conditional ultimatum. If you will receive it or the message that I am giving you this is Elias the prophesied one paving the way of the Lord John the Baptist. So the choice here is given either you receive what Jesus is telling you and if you do it's because you have ears to hear or you don't and it's because you do not have ears to hear it's that simple. Jesus then goes on to say where on soul shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the markets and calling on to their fellows and saying we have piped onto you and you have not danced we have mourned onto you and you have not lamented. What is so wrong about this generation that Jesus is rebuking? Why didn't they dance when the children piped? Why did they not lament when the children mourned? Is it because they loved John the Baptist's Gospel of Grace but wouldn't pour down their alcohol and set fire to their pornography in his presence? Is it because they didn't like hard preaching against sin? Is it because they wanted to be Jesus' disciple but didn't want to surrender everything to his lordship? Well Matthew 11 in verses 18 and 19 tells us for John came neither eating nor drinking and they say he has a devil. The son of man came eating and drinking and they say behold a man gluttonous and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners but wisdom is justified off her children. So we see here that there were some double standards going on. When John the Baptist preached repentance which I've already covered in previous videos he had a very humble lifestyle having only basic clothing of camel's hair and eating locusts and honey yet they accused him of having a devil. When Jesus preached repentance and again I've covered this in a previous video although he was also humble he did enjoy eating wine and fancier dining with various people he conversed with such as with Levi in Luke 5 that we've already seen in a previous video and they accused him of being a glutton and a wine bibber. In the previous videos where I discussed John's and Jesus' message of repentance we saw that it was to believe in the good news of the coming Christ. We proved that it was not about turning from sins to be saved. Regarding the unrepentant multitude that Jesus was rebuking here they reject whatever kind of preacher is sent onto them. If God sends a humble messenger who is separated from the world and does not enjoy the pleasures of life he is demon possessed. Perhaps they thought he was too weird and they reject his teaching. If God sends a more relatable messenger and his disciples who will eat and drink and lodge with the common people in their towns they still reject them and call Jesus a glutton and a wine bibber. So we see the ultimate problem with this multitude. They reject whatever prophet or messenger is sent onto them irrespective of the caliber of person that preachers onto them be they of lower or higher estate. There is no pleasing them as Jesus already said he that has ears lets him hear and these people will not hear and Jesus already told his disciples to go out and preach and warned them about the cities that will not receive them. In other words they will not hear the gospel and they will persecute the disciples and Jesus said that the city that does that to the disciples will find judgment day more intolerable than even a city as wicked as Sodom or Gomorrah. So we go on to read in verse 20 in Matthew 11 then he began to upbraid the cities where in most of his mighty works were done because they repented not. Now we have already seen in this chapter how the multitudes did not repent. They rejected the gospel when John the Baptist preached it. They said he had a devil and cast him into prison. They rejected the gospel when Jesus preached it and he did many miracles and they called him a wine bibber and a glutton. They rejected the gospel when the disciples preached it and they did many miracles also but then they persecuted the disciples. John's and Jesus's message of repentance was to believe in the Christ or the gospel as previous videos in this series have proven without doubt. But let's carry on reading to get a bit more context about the cities he upbraid at what he said on to them. We go on to read. Woe on to you Chorazin, woe on to you Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes but I say on to you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And you Caperna which are exalted on to heaven shall be brought down to hell for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day but I say on to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Now that last verse is very crucial. Remember that we saw earlier what Jesus said to the disciples when the cities and houses reject them. They would find it more intolerable on the judgment day than Sodom and Gomorrah. And what do we see in this chapter the cities that he upbrades for not repenting it's like a in this case it's going to be worse for them on judgment day than it is for Sodom and Gomorrah. So there's a pattern that's emerging here isn't there. If they had repented they would have heard the Gospel when John the Baptist preached it and then when Jesus preached it and then when the disciples preached it but they wouldn't hear the Gospel they rejected the Gospel and they persecuted the people that gave them the Gospel. Ergo they didn't repent that's what it means. This is consistent with what we see throughout the New Testament particularly in the Gospel accounts. Chorisin only appears in this story in Matthew 11 and Luke 10 so there are no other scriptures we can compare chorisin with. Bethesda occasionally appears but doesn't give us any concrete examples of rejecting Christ outside of this passage. Whereas Tyre and Sidon many people came down from there to hear Jesus and be healed of their diseases in Luke chapter 6. Now that's not to say that Jesus or his disciples actually went to Tyre and Sidon to do mighty works there otherwise Matthew 11 and Luke 10 wouldn't make any sense but people traveled from those cities to see Jesus so obviously they would be much more receptive. Capernaum received the harshest criticism from Jesus and was made worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. After preaching and doing miracles there some scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy in Mark 2.6. Some people sought to find Jesus in Capernaum in John 6.24 but after Jesus' discourse in that chapter they ended up rejecting him and would not believe him and some disciples even turned away from Jesus there. Now there are some positive mentions of Capernaum too though such as the Centurion. We also see that the Jews rejecting Jesus and not believing on him when he told them to is a repetitive theme in John's Gospel account. Throughout chapters 3 to 12 this is consistent with what is happening in Matthew 11 and Luke 10. Luke's account of Jesus upraiding of Capernaum really puts the cherry on the cake to prove what their lack of repentance meant. It says in Luke 10 15 to 16 and you Capernaum which are exalted onto heaven shall be thrust down to hell. He that hears you hears me and he that despises you despises me and he that despises me despises him that sent me. This is consistent with everything Jesus was saying to the disciples in Matthew 10 and Luke 9 and 10. Now if somebody wants to insist that these cities needed to repent of their sins to be saved my question to you then is what sins do you say Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida needed to repent of? Were they all drunkards? If so then wine context of Matthew 11 does Jesus rebuke the multitudes for calling him a wine bibber. Jesus turned water into wine right before going to Capernaum in John 2 so if they were a bunch of drunks they should have loved Jesus. Were they all pagans? Unlikely. Matthew 10 told us that Jesus was sending his disciples to the lost shape of Israel so they were more likely a Jewish audience. Were they all fornicators or adulterers? Well what's your evidence of this? Now this is where they'll then say they needed to repent of all of their sins. But the same question applies in any case. What sins? Drunkenness, Hordom, witchcraft, reveling? What? What passage is telling us that these cities did all of these sins? There is no evidence that these cities were sinful wicked cities that needed to repent of all of their sins. The previous context in Matthew and Luke has already told us how they should have repented. They should have received John the Baptist when he preached repentance and the kingdom by believing on the coming Christ, not repent of your sins. Instead they said he had a devil and had him arrested. They should have received the disciples when they came preaching the gospel and doing miracles. Instead they persecuted the disciples. They should have received Jesus when he came preaching the gospel and doing miracles. Instead they called him a glutton and a wine bibber. Now if you can sit through all of that that you've seen, we've shown the biblical evidence leading up to this passage and you still think that this passage is about repenting of your sins to be saved. Well then you are rejecting the Bible. It's that simple. I have no respect for you. You do not have ears to hear. You are willingly ignorant, okay? Not just because of this video but because of previous videos I've done where we've looked at these different repent of your sins passages and we've seen what the meaning of repentance is. It's so plain and simple. This is not about turning from your sins to be saved. This is about hearing the gospel when it's given to you and not persecuting the people that give it to you. That's what it's about. That's how they didn't repent. Now some people might ask me, in the next chapter of Matthew, chapter 12, we see Nineveh being used as an example of a city that did repent and they repented of their wicked deeds. You reference verses from Luke 9 in which Jesus also said, Deny yourself, take up your cross, but you didn't reference that part of the chapter. Well for the sake of time I cannot answer these now. They will need to be dealt with in their own video. So in the next video we'll take a look at Nineveh. In the next video we will look at Nineveh's repentance. This is no nonsense Christianity reminding you that nowhere in the Bible does it say repent of your sins to be saved.