Luke 10:13
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Woe to you, Chorazin!
The word "Woe" is a strong expression of grief or denunciation. In the Greek, it is "ouai," which conveys a deep lament or impending judgment. Chorazin was a city near Capernaum, and its mention here highlights its significance in Jesus' ministry. Despite witnessing Jesus' miracles, the city remained unrepentant. This serves as a warning to those who experience God's works yet fail to respond with faith and repentance.

Woe to you, Bethsaida!
Bethsaida, like Chorazin, was a city that witnessed many of Jesus' miracles. The repetition of "Woe" emphasizes the seriousness of their spiritual condition. Bethsaida was the hometown of several apostles, including Peter, Andrew, and Philip, which underscores the city's exposure to Jesus' teachings. The lament over Bethsaida serves as a reminder of the responsibility that comes with receiving divine revelation.

For if the miracles that were performed in you
The phrase "miracles that were performed" refers to the mighty works or "dunamis" in Greek, indicating acts of divine power. These miracles were not just displays of power but were meant to lead people to repentance and faith. The cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida had ample evidence of Jesus' divine authority, yet they remained unchanged.

had been performed in Tyre and Sidon
Tyre and Sidon were ancient Phoenician cities known for their wealth and paganism. Historically, they were often condemned by the prophets for their idolatry and pride (e.g., Ezekiel 28). By comparing Chorazin and Bethsaida to these Gentile cities, Jesus highlights the greater accountability of those who have received more revelation. The implication is that even these pagan cities would have repented if they had witnessed the same miracles.

they would have repented long ago
The concept of repentance, "metanoeo" in Greek, involves a profound change of mind and heart, turning away from sin and toward God. Jesus' statement suggests that the evidence provided to Chorazin and Bethsaida was sufficient for repentance, yet they remained obstinate. This serves as a sobering reminder of the hardness of the human heart and the necessity of responding to God's call.

sitting in sackcloth and ashes
"Sackcloth and ashes" were traditional symbols of mourning and repentance in Jewish culture. Sackcloth was a coarse material worn during times of grief, and ashes signified desolation and humility. This imagery underscores the depth of repentance that Jesus expected. It is a call to genuine contrition and transformation, not merely outward expressions of sorrow.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Chorazin
A town in Galilee where Jesus performed many miracles. Despite witnessing these miracles, the people did not repent.

2. Bethsaida
Another Galilean town, known as the hometown of some of Jesus' disciples. Like Chorazin, it saw many of Jesus' works but remained unrepentant.

3. Tyre and Sidon
Ancient Phoenician cities known for their wealth and pagan practices. Jesus uses them as a comparison to highlight the unrepentance of Chorazin and Bethsaida.

4. Miracles
Supernatural acts performed by Jesus to demonstrate His divine authority and to call people to repentance.

5. Repentance
A key theme in Jesus' ministry, involving a sincere turning away from sin and turning towards God, often symbolized by sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Teaching Points
Accountability for Revelation
Those who witness God's works are held accountable for their response. The greater the revelation, the greater the responsibility to respond in faith and repentance.

The Danger of Spiritual Apathy
Familiarity with the divine can lead to complacency. We must guard against becoming indifferent to God's work in our lives.

Repentance as a Response to God's Works
True repentance involves a heartfelt change, often demonstrated through outward signs of humility, such as sackcloth and ashes in biblical times.

Comparative Judgment
Jesus' comparison of Chorazin and Bethsaida to Tyre and Sidon underscores that judgment is based on the light received. We must not take lightly the spiritual privileges we have.

Urgency of Repentance
The call to repentance is urgent. We should not delay in turning to God, recognizing the seriousness of ignoring His call.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the response of Chorazin and Bethsaida to Jesus' miracles teach us about the importance of responding to God's work in our lives?

2. How can we guard against becoming spiritually apathetic or complacent in our faith journey?

3. In what ways can we demonstrate genuine repentance in our lives today, similar to the biblical practice of sitting in sackcloth and ashes?

4. How does the comparison between Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Tyre and Sidon challenge us to reflect on our own spiritual privileges and responsibilities?

5. What steps can we take to ensure that we are not delaying our response to God's call for repentance and transformation in our lives?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 11:20-24
This passage parallels Luke 10:13, emphasizing the accountability of cities that witnessed Jesus' miracles yet did not repent.

Jonah 3:5-6
The repentance of Nineveh, where the people sat in sackcloth and ashes, serves as a historical example of genuine repentance that Jesus alludes to.

Isaiah 23
Prophecies against Tyre, highlighting its eventual downfall due to pride and sin, which contrasts with the potential repentance Jesus mentions.
The Mission of the SeventyR.M. Edgar Luke 10:1-24
Guilt and PunishmentW. Clarkson Luke 10:12-15
ChorazinC. Geikie, D. D.Luke 10:13-15
The Danger of Impenitence Where the Gospel is PreachedArchbishop Tillotson.Luke 10:13-15
The Guilt of a Privileged PeopleLuke 10:13-15
The Sentence of ChorazinC. Girdlestone, M. A.Luke 10:13-15
People
Jesus, Martha, Mary
Places
Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Jericho, Jerusalem, Road to Jerusalem, Sidon, Sodom, Tyre
Topics
Ago, Alas, Ashes, Bethsaida, Beth-saida, Beth-sa'ida, Chorazin, Chora'zin, Curse, Dust, Ere, Korazin, Mighty, Miracles, Occurred, Performed, Power, Reformed, Repented, Sackcloth, Seated, Sidon, Sins, Sitting, Tyre, Wo, Woe, Works
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 10:13

     2351   Christ, miracles
     5865   gestures
     6742   sackcloth and ashes

Luke 10:11-16

     9240   last judgment

Luke 10:12-15

     2333   Christ, attitude to OT
     6750   sin-bearer

Luke 10:13-14

     1418   miracles, responses
     9250   woe

Luke 10:13-15

     2009   Christ, anger of
     2318   Christ, as prophet
     6194   impenitence, warnings
     9513   hell, as incentive to action

Library
Definiteness of Purpose in Christian Work
TEXT: "Salute no man by the way."--Luke 10:4. Luke is the only one of the Evangelists giving us the account of the sending out of the seventy. The others tell us that Christ called certain men unto him and commissioned them to tell his story; but in this instance after Jesus had said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head," he calls the seventy and sends them forth prepared to endure any sacrifice or suffer any affliction if only
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

October 28 Evening
The Enemy.--LUKE 10:19. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.--Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 14 Evening
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.--LUKE 10:41. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap. Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not. Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content . . . They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 9 Evening
One thing is needful.--LUKE 10:42. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.--O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 8. "Pray Ye Therefore" (Luke x. 2).
"Pray Ye therefore" (Luke x. 2). Prayer is the mighty engine that is to move the missionary work. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." We are asking God to touch the hearts of men every day by the Holy Ghost, so that they shall be compelled to go abroad and preach the Gospel. We are asking Him to wake them up at night with the solemn conviction that the heathen are perishing, and that their blood will be upon their souls, and God is answering
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Good Samaritan
LUKE x. 33, 34. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. No words, perhaps, ever spoken on earth, have had more effect than those of this parable. They are words of power and of spirit; living words, which have gone forth into the hearts and lives of men, and borne fruit in them of a hundred
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

The Tables Turned: the Questioners Questioned
'But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Messengers: their Equipment and Work
'After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whither He Himself would come. 2. Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. 3. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. 5. And into whatsoever
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Neighbours Far Off
'And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27. And he, answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Sanctification
SANCTIFICATION [1] St Luke x. 42.--"One thing is needful." I have read many writings both of heathen philosophers and inspired prophets, ancient and modern, and have sought earnestly to discover what is the best and highest quality whereby man may approach most nearly to union with God, and whereby he may most resemble the ideal of himself which existed in God, before God created men. And after having thoroughly searched these writings as far as my reason may penetrate, I find no higher quality than
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 16, "He that Rejecteth You Rejecteth Me. "
1. What our Lord Jesus Crist at that time spake to His disciples was put in writing, and prepared for us to hear. And so we have heard His words. For what profit would it be to us if He were seen, and were not heard? And now it is no hurt, that He is not seen, and yet is heard. He saith then, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me." [3300] If to the Apostles only He said, "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me;" do ye despise us. But if His word reach to us, and He hath called us, and set us in their
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 2, "The Harvest Truly is Plenteous," Etc.
1. By the lesson of the Gospel which has just been read, we are reminded to search what that harvest is of which the Lord says, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest." [3262] Then to His twelve disciples, whom He also named Apostles, He added other seventy-two, and sent them all, as appears from His words, to the harvest then ready. What then was that harvest? For that harvest was not among these
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 38, "And a Certain Woman Named Martha Received Him into Her House," Etc.
1. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ which have just been read out of the Gospel, give us to understand, that there is some one thing for which we must be making, when we toil amid the manifold engagements of this life. Now we make for this as being yet in pilgrimage, and not in our abiding place; as yet in the way, not yet in our country; as yet in longing, not yet in enjoyment. Yet let us make for it, and that without sloth and without intermission, that we may some time be able to reach it. 2.
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Again, on the Words of the Gospel, Luke x. 38, Etc. , About Martha and Mary.
1. When the holy Gospel was being read, we heard that the Lord was received by a religious woman into her house, and her name was Martha. And while she was occupied in the care of serving, her sister Mary was sitting at the Lord's Feet, and hearing His Word. The one was busy, the other was still; one was giving out, the other was being filled. Yet Martha, all busy as she was in that occupation and toil of serving, appealed to the Lord, and complained of her sister, that she did not help her in her
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On Dissipation
"This I speak -- that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." 1 Cor. 7:35. 1. Almost in every part of our nation, more especially in the large and populous towns, we hear a general complaint among sensible persons, of the still increasing dissipation. It is observed to diffuse itself more and more, in the court, the city, and the country. From the continual mention which is made of this, and the continual declamations against it, one would naturally imagine that a word so commonly used
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The one Thing Needful
The mere posture of sitting down and listening to the Saviour's word was nothing in itself: it was that which it indicated. It indicated, in Mary's case, a readiness to believe what the Saviour taught, to accept and to obey--nay to delight in, the precepts which fell from his lips. And this is the one thing needful--absolutely needful; for no rebel can enter the kingdom of heaven with the weapons of rebellion in his hands. We cannot know Christ while we resist Christ: we must be reconciled to his
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Good Samaritan
(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.) S. LUKE x. 30. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves." The scene of the parable is a wild, lonely road between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is a road with an evil name for murder and robbery, and is called the red, or bloody way. The mishap of the traveller was common enough in our Lord's day, and is common enough now. But I would take the scene of this parable in a wider sense; I would ask you to look at it as the wayside of
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Zeal.
13th Sunday after Trinity. S. Luke x., 23. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven, said our Lord, is like unto a treasure hid in a field. One day a man is turning over the stones which lie in a heap in a corner of the field, and he finds under them an iron chest, and this chest he believes to be full of gold. Then he carefully covers it up again with stones and earth, and goes off in the greatest excitement to the owner of the field, and offers him a price,
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Lorimer -- the Fall of Satan
George C. Lorimer was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1838. He was brought up by his stepfather who was associated with the theater, and in this relation he received a dramatic education and had some experience on the stage. In 1855 he came to the United States, where he joined the Baptist Church and abandoned the theatrical profession. Later he studied for the Baptist ministry, being ordained in 1859. He died in 1904. His direct and dramatic, pulpit style brought him into great popularity in Boston,
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 8

Question on the Religious State
Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? The Lord declared that Mary's was the best part, and she is the type of the contemplative life.[491] Religious Orders differ from one another primarily according to the ends they have in view, but secondarily according to the works they practise. And since one thing cannot be said to be superior to another save by reason of the differences between them, it will follow that the superiority of
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Christian Perfection
Definition of perfection: Unblemished, blameless, pure. We are commanded to be perfect. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."--Matt. 5:48. "For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."--2 Cor. 13:9, 11. "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
J. W. Byers—Sanctification

The Christian's Fellow Man
Scripture references: Luke 10:29-37; Matthew 7:12; 5:16; Luke 12:13-15; 1 Corinthians 13; Matthew 7:3-5; 5:42-49; John 21:21, 22. MAN AND OTHER MEN The Question of Relationship.--One of the most important questions is that of the relation which a man shall hold to other men. 1. It is fundamental in every system of philosophy and religion. The answers, which are given, show their widespread practical bearing in the social, industrial and political spheres, as well as in the religious. 2. It is imperative
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

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