Hi everyone. Welcome back again to the Daily gospel exegesis podcast. We're all about helping you understand? The literal sense of scripture. So, what we do here every day in this podcast, is take a really deep. Look at the scripture from today's mass. So, particularly looking at the Gospel reading from today's mass, we're going through verse by verse This to help you understand what the text probably meant in its original context.
So we're looking at the literal sense of the text which as Catholics, that's where we need to start. So if you go to mass today, you would hear from Luke chapter 10 verses 13 to 16. So, here's the text. Jesus said to his disciples alas for you to raisin a less for you bethsaida. For if the Miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and sidon they would have repented long ago sitting in sack cloth and Ashes and still it would not go as hard with tyre and sidon at the Judgment as with you.
And as for you Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as Heaven? You shall be thrown down to Hell. Anyone who listens to you listens to me, anyone who rejects, you rejects me. And those who reject me. Reject the one who sent me So that's our text today. Here we have some of Jesus, strongest words, in all of the gospels. What's the context when you want?
When you're doing an exegesis, if you want to find out the literal sense of the text, you've always got to think about what's happened, just prior to this. So Jesus has just started moving towards Jerusalem and we're actually getting pretty close to the end of Jesus life. He's already done a whole lot of ministry in Galilee and now he's beginning, what some Scholars, call the ministry to Judea and
perea. Now Jesus has just commissioned his 72 disciples to go out on mission to the surrounding towns and to preach the message of the Kingdom, you probably heard the start of that yesterday. So what we have today is the end of that speech. He's speaking to the 72 disciples, giving them some instructions before they go out on their mission. Jesus here is going to start by pronouncing woes on towns who so far have not received the gospel
message. So he's going to mention three towns that he's already been to in Galilee that have not accepted the gospel message and he's going to pronounce warriors on them. So, keep in mind as we go here because you'll probably be quite surprised by Jesus strong language here. These towns of all her Jesus teaching, they've all seen Jesus with their own eyes. They've all seen Miracles with their own eyes. Those Miracles were pretty clear and obvious, so it should have
been that. Those challenge who saw the Miracles should have repented and turned to God. That was what the Miracles should have made them do. But on the whole these towns that Jesus mentions have chosen. Not to repent. They might have been fascinated by Jesus miracles but it hasn't actually brought about genuine repentance. And it hasn't made them made decisions to come to God in his kingdom. Now, Matthews version of this text actually makes this quite
clear. So Matthew, introduces Jesus words here, in Matthew chapter 11, verse 20, he is what Matthew says, Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked because they refuse to repent. So, that's the key thing here. The towns refuse to repent. That's why Jesus is condemning them. We should keep this in mind. If we see Miracles, if we see genuine activity of God in our life even today.
It's supposed to lead to repentance, not just Fascination but repentance, that's the goal of God's physical works. In the world, verse 13. Jesus says, alas for you or more literally woe to you. Now, this is an ancient Jewish way of saying something like trouble is coming to you. It's a phrase that's used a lot in the Old Testament, particularly when the prophets of Israel are speaking about the Lord's judgment on Sinners, who refuse to repent.
So if you look at Isaiah five, Micah to it's in habakkuk Chapter 2 as well. The prophets often use this language of War, oh, they pronounce woes on towns and people who refuse to repent. So Jesus, you says, alas for yuca raisin alas, for you bethsaida. So, these are two towns qurayza, nor sometimes pronounced to raisin and bethsaida. These are towns. North of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus has already been there. In fact, he spent a considerable amount of time.
They're probably in the first couple. Years of his ministry. He spent some time there, preaching, and doing Miracles, now corizon is only mentioned in this passage in the entire New Testament here. And the parallel passage in Matthew, is the only time this town is mentioned. We don't know a whole lot about it. Obviously, it's been visited by Jesus at some point during his tours of Galilee. And it appears that we have found this town.
There's ruins of a town near Capernaum that have been discovered, a couple of miles from Capernaum, and most Scholars have identified, this as Oscar, a reason and we know that Jesus has been to bethsaida earlier. If you go to chapter 9, just one chapter before this Jesus is in
bethsaida. So, these are towns that Jesus has already been to. He says, alas for yuca raisin, alas, for you bethsaida, for, if the Miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and sidon, Now, tyre and sidon would Gentile towns, just north of Galilee in the region of Phoenicia. In fact, there are only a couple of days Away From Galilee by foot, but the Jews at the time of Jesus avoided tyre, and sidon because they're Gentile areas
and the Gentiles, particularly tyre and sidon were believed to be corrupt and far from God. So that's why the Jews avoided them. And in addition in the Old Testament tyre and sidon a specifically mentioned, as God's enemies, Is that are going to be judged in Isaiah 23 and Jeremiah 25. So Jesus he says, alas for you, corrosion are less for you bethsaida for if the Miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and sidon they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and Ashes.
Now, most of you would know sackcloth and Ashes is kind of a traditional Old Testament, way of doing public mourning and public repentance. That was in the Old Testament. That was the way that they repented, they had this Collection of wearing sackcloth and Ashes. So Jesus, he says that even though these towns tyre and sidon generally, don't follow God on the whole because they're Gentile. Jesus says that even they would have repented if they had seen the Miracles that had been done
in chorazin and bethsaida. So Jesus, he says that, even these Gentile towns are far better than chorazin and bethsaida think about how shocking that would have been for his mostly Jewish audience. He's here, correct. Qurayza, number Seda are worse off than tyre and sidon. Now, there's probably exceptions to this. In terms of in the town, we wouldn't want to say that every single person in chorazin and bethsaida doesn't follow Jesus or didn't repent, those probably exceptions.
But on the whole, the town's people in these towns, refuse to commit themselves to the kingdom of God, they refuse to repent. And in fact, it does look like at least some people from tyre and sidon were open to Jesus. So in Luke chapter 6, verse 17, it mentions people who are coming to Jesus from these
towns. But most likely, if we're looking at the literal sense here, when Jesus, he is says, if the Miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and sidon, they would have repented, he's probably using hyperbole here. Jesus might not be literally affirming that he actually knows how tyre and sidon would have responded. I mean, maybe he is saying that maybe He's using his Divine knowledge and he can see her tyre and sidon would have responded, but he could just be using a Jewish way of
exaggerating. It might just be a way of saying how Wicked the Galilean towns are. It's a way of exaggerating to make a point, but Jesus is now going to intensify it further verse 14 and still, it will not go as hard. That's probably not a great translation, a better way of phrasing. This would be, it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon at the A judgment than with you. So what's the Judgment here?
Jesus here, thinking of the final judgment on Judgment Day, Jesus says, it will be more tolerable on Judgment Day for tyre and sidon than 42 raisin and bethsaida. So at the end of time, all people will be judged for how they ought to have responded to God.
That's Catholic teaching. And Jesus says, the given that the towns of Tyre and sidon will receive a lesser punishment than to raisin and Because tyre and sidon were much more open to God and were more likely to repent if they had seen the Miracles. This is a pretty incredible statement and it shows how important the kingdom of God is that Jesus has come to reveal.
The whole Old Testament, was pointing towards the coming of the kingdom of God, and the Messiah, and the Jews, including those in Galilee, were accountable to know that it was coming. And they were accountable to know what it should look like. So if they reject it, when it does come via Jesus, And the apostles preaching, then really. It's their own fault. It's out of willful ignorance. That's what Jesus says here. There's no excuse for the towns
of Galilee their dues. They knew that the kingdom of God was coming. So if they're rejected when it comes, it's their own fault. Now, Jesus here is not necessarily teaching that every single town will be judged on Judgement Day. He might just be using this as like a visual image to illustrate the kind of thing that will go on on Judgement Day verse 15, Jesus. Now mentions the third town As for you Capernaum now, Capernaum
is a very famous town. This is the town on the Northern side of the Sea of Galilee, that's where Jesus lived, and spent most of his own time. Now, you're not remember, there's a scene earlier in the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus was in Capernaum, and Capernaum, was genuinely amazed at Jesus and they saw some Miracles and they tried to prevent him from leaving though, with that amazed.
That's in Luke chapter 4. So on the whole, you might get the impression that Capernaum had a positive response to Jesus but he Here, Jesus tells us that actually, although, there were fascinated by Jesus, they didn't repent. And that's the problem. So Jesus you says, as for you Capernaum. Did you want to be exalted high as heaven now more, literally, a better translation would be, will you be exalted to heaven? So, Jesus. Here is saying something like, Capernaum, do you think God will
honor you? He grows on, you shall be thrown down to Hell and the Greek word there is Hades. So it looks like Jesus is probably not referring to the place of final. Punishment. But rather to the general Dwelling Place of the Dead Hades or she ol, he says, Capernaum, you shall be thrown down tissue roll. Now this is actually a direct quote from Isaiah chapter, 14 verses 13 to 15 and their it's used in reference to Babylon. It says Babylon. You shall be brought down to Hades.
And here, he says to Capernaum, you shall be brought down to Hades. So, Jesus, here is Kaepernick as comparing Capernaum to Babylon. One of the most wicked cities in the entire Old Testament. That's a pretty be strong
comparison. And in that Isaiah passage about Babylon, the idea there is that Babylon is very prideful, but they will be humbled by God. So when Isaiah says, Babylon will be brought down to Hades. It seems to be an image of being humbled, and that's probably the way that we should take this passage here. Jesus did doesn't use the word gehenna here, which is his preferred word for Eternal
punishment. So he's not necessarily saying the Capernaum will receive Eternal punishment, but they will have a harsh judgement on Judgement Day. They will be humbled by Odd for rejecting, the gospel message. He's certainly teaching that. So maybe the meaning here is something like this Capernaum. Do you think God will be honored with your works and give you glory in the Kingdom rather? You will not be glorified at all because you have rejected the kingdom. And again, Jesus here might be
using a bit of her purple here. We should always be sensitive to this. Jesus is probably not trying to teach the specifics of how the afterlife works or what judgement day is exactly going to look like, he's just Making a general comparison between Capernaum and Babylon. They both saw God's works. Like both should have repented and they both didn't now in Matthews version of this. Same passage Jesus goes on to intensified further.
He says, Capernaum is like Sodom which is an even more wicked town that was destroyed by God. The overall point of these verses is the Jesus is reproaching. The towns of Galilee for their unbelief, they were filled with choose who should have been prepared for the Messiah. The Messiah came. He lived in their towns. He spent time amongst them. He did Miracles with them but We're still not willing to repent. That's the whole point of this passage.
There's an important lesson for us here as well. This teaches us that religious background or even knowledge of the Bible does. Not guarantee that God is pleased with us. Knowledge about God and fascination with God is Not Enough. We have to repent. This is a sober warning to us because we have even more Revelation about God, than the people in Jesus time did. So we're more accountable than they are in a sense and we should keep that in mind. Verse 16. Jesus now changes his focus a
little bit. He says anyone who listens to you listens to me or another translation here is he who hears you hears me? Remember here that Jesus is speaking to his inner disciples, he's 72 disciples. Anyone who listens to you listens to me? He's not speaking to all Christians here. It's actually just his inner disciples and it's quite an interesting passage of fascinating one, but we need to
get it, right. So when Jesus says, anyone who listens to you listens to me, he's saying but the Your disciples have received a unique commission from him to preach the kingdom in his name. So they're officially delegated by Jesus to be his official representatives. And in that culture, a representative of a person was basically considered to be equal to the person. So the 72 have a special commission from Jesus in this time period to act on his behalf.
So if anyone listens to them from the surrounding towns, they're in effect. Listening to Jesus, the way they treat the 72 will be Be a reflection on the way they feel about Jesus. So, Jesus says, anyone who listens to you listens to me, that's the level of authority, he gives them their effectively, his mouth pieces on this mission, that is about to send them on and then there's the flip side, anyone who rejects, you, rejects me.
So on the other hand, any Village or individual, which does not listen to. The disciples preaching is considered to have rejected Jesus and that matches with some things he said earlier, that's her closely United, the Whose mission is to Jesus mission. If they reject the disciples and they're preaching, they're rejecting Jesus. And in fact it's worse than that. Jesus says anyone who rejects, you rejects me, and those who reject me, reject, the one who sent me.
So Jesus is the representative of the father. So anyone who rejects the disciples reject Jesus. And since Jesus is the representative of the father, they're also rejecting the father and that's quite serious. This is Amplified. Equally in the Gospel of John, if you read the Gospel of John, Jesus is constantly saying I am the representative of the father, if you reject me, you
reject the father as well. So the overall message here, is that in Jesus time, anyone in his time, who heard the message from Jesus, or from the 72 disciples, but who refused to accept it, they were accountable for it because they should have resect accepted it. So therefore, if they didn't accept it, they were considered to have rejected, the father, and they were there for Under his judgment. That's what this text is telling us. And this verse is actually really important in Catholic
teaching. You can extend this principle out to think about how the church and the church leaders today represent Jesus as well. So, the Catholic teaching is that the capacity that will given to the Twelve Apostles? Remember the Twelve Apostles, officially delegated to be Jesus Representatives. They have Jesus Authority.
Well, the Catholic teaching, is that in a sense, some of that Authority was passed on from the apostles, To their successes, the Bishops. So therefore even today the Bishops in the Catholic church because they because of apostolic succession they have the authority in certain circumstances to speak for Jesus.
So this principle of the church leaders speaking for Jesus does count come in to Catholic teaching at in certain circumstances the Catholic church is leaders can speak on behalf of Jesus. It's really interesting. Now at this point, the 72 disciples they leave and they go on their missions. In the next section of text, we get to hear the results of their mission. They come back and tell Jesus, how the mission won't let us now turn to the catechism. There's two paragraphs.
Really interesting ones. Which reference what we've heard today. Paragraph 87, which is about how the heritage of the faith is entrusted to the whole of the church's says, mindful of Christ's word to his Apostles, he who hears you, he is me the faithful receive with docility, the teachings and directives that their It is give them in different forms. So here, the Catholic teaching, is that? Because of what Jesus says here to the disciples, he who hears you hears me?
And in a sense, the Bishops and the priests in the Catholic Church continue that same Authority. When we get directives from our Bishops and our priests, the faithful should receive these teachings because in a sense it's an extension of Jesus own words, so that's an interesting link there. And then the same passage gets referenced here in paragraph 8. 58 which is about the apostles.
Jesus is the Father's the father's Emissary, from the beginning of his ministry, he called to him, Those whom he desired and he appointed twelve whom he named Apostles to be with him and to be sent out to preach. From then on, they would also be his emissaries, Greek. Apostille oi in them, Christ, continues, his own mission. As the father has sent me even. So I send you, the apostles Ministry is the continuation of his mission. Jesus said to the twelve, he who receives you receives me?
So hopefully today's exegesis has helped you understand the passage a bit better. We'll continue to look through Luke chapter 10, in the coming days.