“Jesus went on to say, ‘You people in Chorazin, things will be bad for you! And things will be bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. If I had done such great things in Tyre and in Sidon, the people there would have changed how they lived. They would have shown that they were sorry for their sins. They would have put on clothes made from goat's hair. They would also have put ash on their heads. Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people of Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish even more you people from Chorazin and Bethsaida. And what will happen to you people in Capernaum? You think that God will lift you up to heaven, do you? No! He will throw you down to hell!’”
Luke 10:13-15 EASY
https://www.bible.com/2079/luk.10.13-15.easy
Located on the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee are three ancient cities named Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum where Jesus did much of his ministry and performed many miracles. If you link these three cities together, you get what some call the “Evangelistic triangle.”
Given there were many witnesses to Jesus’ miracles and great access to His sermons, Christ expected them to repent and become believers. After all, it was the people from this area who saw the most proof of His Deity. It reminds me of what Jesus said to Thomas:
“Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Other people have not seen me, but they do believe in me. God is really happy with those people.’” John 20:29 EASY
https://www.bible.com/2079/jhn.20.29.easy
It’s surprising when people have access to the amazing yet they just take the amazing for granted. It’s like me not being wowed by the amazing Rocky Mountain views here because I see them every day yet people all over the world are in awe when they come to visit. The people of the Evangelistic Triangle saw or regularly heard of Jesus and His miracles yet many just went “meh” while people from afar were blown away. Jesus said punishment will be more severe to those who witnessed and chose not to repent and follow Him. Why? It’s because once you see it with your own eyes and still don’t believe, you are simply either stupid or ignorant to the truth. You are therefore willing to follow your truth even though you know the truth set out by your Creator. You, in essence, by your inaction want to remain separate from God even when you know God is right there in front of you.
Perhaps, we are the lucky ones. We didn’t see the miracles. We rely on the biblical truths. We rely on faith and are wowed by the Grace of God which pleases Him greatly!
That’s why faith has more power than actual witnessing because you are trusting God fully through that faith.
by Kent Brosh a Kawaiaha’o Blog Contributor
Alberta, Canada
