woe (Mt 11:20-30)

Friday, January 11, 2008

Psalm 106:19-48; Matthew 11:20-30

"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..."
(Matthew 10:21)


As much as I'd like to comment on the second section here ("Come to me...") I think I'm supposed to share about these denunciations today. Maybe tomorrow or soon I'll comment on the important section about Jesus' yoke.

In the Wednesday morning Men's Bible Study we talked about the parallel passage of the first part of our reading today in Luke's gospel (Luke 10:13-15). We stumbled a bit on the "woes" here, that they sounded very condemning. Indeed the word in the Greek, similar to an onomatopoeia (a word that sounds like what it describes), "ouai," has a root idea of horrible, as in "how horrible it will be for you..." I do think Jesus is expressing something stronger here than, "alas," or I'm deeply saddened for you.

The context Matthew gives us is that Jesus "began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent." (v. 20) The very purpose of his mighty works, his miracles, was that the people seeing, hearing about, or experiencing them would repent.

As I shared in an Advent sermon, the word "repent' has an idea of a movement of the heart. You can move your body from home to church, or from Jerusalem to the baptismal waters of the Jordan, or from 1st world comfort to 3rd world service, and not move your heart toward God. This movement of the heart includes the direction we face or our lives are heading, our softness or receptivity toward God, and who we are really serving.

This was core message of John the Baptist (3:2) and Jesus (4:17): "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is a message of hope and of life: Return to God. Connect with the source of your life. Stop trusting in your self, your own devices and designs, and trust in God.

The reality is that it already is horrible for all who do not love the Lord and trust in him. Jesus is stating the cold facts, as harsh as they sound. It's passionate for him because it's at the heart of why he came, why he did mighty works, and why he would die. He came that hearts would change, would move to God, would be soft and receptive in their brokenness and total trust. He always treasures repentant, believing hearts - no matter the person's status. This is what moved his heart to come and die for us.

Lastly, this is one of the prophetic declarations that are conditionally true. It can be reversed. Like Jonah going to Ninevah and declaring, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4) But "when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the evil he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it." (Jonah 3:10)

I guess I hear it like a doctor or therapist giving a wake-up call to someone abusing themselves and who will not stop it. "Woe to you, because you won't stop drinking." Or "Because you won't stop smoking, how horrible it will be for you."

My point is Jesus' passion and honesty regarding repentance, and therefore calling us to continually take a sober look at our hearts and lives. This is not just a theme of Advent and Lent. The movement of our hearts toward God is something that every disciple must attend to every day; and to which we as disciples are to invite others.

Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
he abhorred his heritage;
he gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them...
Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love...
(Psalm 106:40-45)