Our and had hitherto ſpent moſt of his rime in Galilee, and the Ciries belonzing ro thar Province ; there both John the Bab- t:5f, and himfſel?, had preached the Goſpel, rhere he had wi _ many Afiracles , by both aiming at their Repentance 3 bur there were Multicudes that did not receive him, nor would be brought ro any fighr of their Sins, Or any acknowledgment of = as = #oſſiis. He now begins to reprove them ſmartly ; _ _ they did nor applaud, and commend him, bur becauſe they al _ Repent. This was Chriſt's End in all his Preaching, and 1n all hs M;raculous Operations, co bring Men to Repent.mce, and to _ him as the Meſſivs ; and this ſhould be the great End purſued by
all his Minifters.
21 Wo unto thee, Chorazin, wo unto thee, Beth- fida: 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.
22 But I ſay unto you, it ſhall be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment , than
for you. :
Lube hath the ſame, chap. 10. Ver. 13, I4e Chorazin and Beth- {tidz were two Ciries of Galilee, not far trom one another, on- ly the Lake of Genneſaret was berwixr them; Capernaum ( by and by ſpoken of ) was berwixt them borh, on the lame fide of rhe Eike as Bethſaida , which was the City of Philip, Andrew, and Peter, Job. 1.44. In theſe Towns Chriſt had ofcen Preached, fo probably had che Apoſtles; and Chriſt had done many great Works in them. {Tyre and Sidon ] were Habirations of Heathens, their Country joined to Galilee : They were Places of grear Traffick , inhabired with Canaanitiſh Idolaters , and exceedingly wicked, threatned by the Prophet [aiah, chap. 23. and by the Prophet Ezekiel, chap. 26. and 27, and 28. and by Amos, chap.1.9. A: Peyple odious to the Jews , upon many Accounts, To theſe our Lord here comparerh the Galileans; telling rhem, Thar rhey were worſe than that Pagan People, who were ſo Contemprible in their Eyes, and thar their Plagues in the Day of Judgment would be greater : { Fr (faith he) if the mighty Works which were dome in you , had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have re- pented ſong ago in ſackcloth and aſhes.) Some think this a ſtrong Provf, Thar where the Goſpel 18 Preached , God gives us a fuffi- ciency of Grace - So as 1f Men will bur uſe that Power which they have in their own Wills, they may with the Aſſiſtance only of rhat Grace truly repent, and be ſaved. 1 ſhall nor meddle with that Diſpure ; bur cannor ſee how that Notion can derive any Prorf from this Text : 2. Becauſe the Text only mentionerh ChritPs Miracles, not his Preaching, 2. The Text doth nor ſay, they would long ago have repented unto Life , but they would have repented in Sackcloth and Aſhes 5 they would have been more affefed than theſe Galileans were, who fhewed no Senſe ar all ot their Sins. The King of Niniveh and his People repented, Fonah 3. wr. 7, &. fo did Ahab, 3 King. 21.27. yet none will Jay, they repented unto Life « None ever denied a Power in Man's Wiil ( his Under/tanding being by the Goſpel inlighened to his Duty) to pertorm Ads of Moral Diſcipline. 3. Our Saviour might here ſpeak after che manner of Men, according to Rational Con- jedures and Probabilities. Tae Scope of our Saviour in theſe words
' 75 to he atrended ; which was only to ſhew, that the Men of Chazin and Beti/.zida, ſhewing no Signs of Remor/e for Sin, or Convi&im, of the Meſſiss, up2n the fight of his Miracles, con- firming his Dorine to be trom Heaven, had ſhewed a greater ſtubboraneſs and hardnefs of Hearr, than theſe Heathens ; who tho' they were had enough, yer had nor had ſuch Means to re- form, and to convince them. Theretore he tells thent their place in Hei, would be more dreadful than the place of the Men of Tyre and Sidon. And fo we are by this Text taught, Fhat as the Sins of Men, who have the Light of the Goſpel, are much greater than the Sins of the worſt of Men, who have ir not : So their Condemnation in the Day of Judgment will be much heavier,
791. 3. 19. |
23 And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven , {halr be brought down to hell , tor if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had
been done in Sodom , it would have remained unto this day. | ;
24 But I ſay unto you, thatir ſhall be more tolera- ble for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee. .
This Speech of our Saviour is much of the fame impor with the cther , the Scope and Sente of it the ſame; to ler the Caperndites know, that the hardneſs of their Hearc was greater in contempe ot viic Goſpel, confirmed by 10 many miraculous Opera- rations; and their guilt greater than the gurlt of Sodom, long fince deflxoyed by Fire and Brimſtone, Gen. 18, For tho' they were guilty of prodigious Simninz , yet they had not ſuch Means to con- vince, reclaim,and reform them : God had nor fent his Son amongſt them , nor given chem ſuch Teſtimonies of that Ae of Grace, as ize had given theſe, by vouchlating ro confirm rhe DoFrine of lis Sen by Miracles z and theretore they mult expe, char God,
THEW.
in the Day of Judgment, ſhould deal more ſeverely with them than with the filchy and 1mpure Sodomites. Our Saviour here ſpeakerh not as an All-hnowing God, bur as the S:n of Man to the Sons of Men; who ſpeak upon Probabilities and Ratimal ConjeFures, It we ſhould ſay that Chritt ſpake this as an al knowing God, all that can be 1nicrred, is ris, Thar an Extern / Reformation may be a lengthning out of Perſons Tranquility: in the mean time, God was juſt co both,in not giving them ſuch Means they Sinning notoriouſly againſt the Light of Nature : which they had; and the Light of L's Holy Example » Whoſe Righteous Soul they vexed with their filthy Converſation, ang unrighteaus Deeds , 2 Pet. 2. 7,8. and he was alſo juſt in deſtrs : ing of them. Capernaum 15 here ſaid to have been exalted ty Hen ven, either with refpe& to their Trading and outward Proſperity or with reſpe& to the Means of Grace they enjoyed, in hearir, Chriſt's Sermoms,, and ſeeing his Miracles, The Caſting down t; Hell , mentioned ver. 21. ſeems to be meant of a Temporal De. Strudtion ;* the word & ys not ſignifying the Place of the Damned, bur the State of the Dead ; bur ver. 22. muſt be un- derftood of Eternal Condemnation , which ſhall be in the Day of Judgment.
25 Ar that time Jeſus anſwered, and ſaid, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, becauſ: