The Peril of Indifference
Matthew 11:16-24
One of the most joyful occasions you can experience as a follower of Christ is when you share the gospel with someone, and they believe. One of the saddest occasions you can experience as a follower of Christ is when you share the gospel with someone, and they do not believe but reject the salvation offered to them in Christ.
In Matthew’s Gospel, we have seen that both John the Baptist and Jesus preached the same message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). Jesus showed that John was the promised Elijah who prepare and announce the coming of the Messiah. If John is the promised messenger, then Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus affirmed that John’s message was true and that they should take heed. They should, “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). But not everyone accepted John’s message (Matt. 11:14). Jesus warned them in Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” In Matthew 11:16-24 Jesus described some of those who would not listen or take heed to John’s message or Jesus’ message. Two major groups who would not repent and believe were those who were critical and those who were unrepentant. Both attitudes display the peril of indifference to Jesus and His kingdom.[1]
1. The Critics (Matt. 11:16-19)
Jesus says in Matthew 11:16, “But to what shall I liken this generation? …” How can he describe the nature of this generation that has been privileged to see and hear both John the Baptist and Jesus, and yet still reject them and their message? In what way can Jesus describe their behavior? Jesus chooses a comparison that demonstrates their childishness: “… It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’” (Matt. 11:16-17).
Children like to play games and what Jesus described here are two games that were often played by the children who gathered in the marketplace while their parents transacted the business of buying and selling and such. If you have watched a group of children for any length of time, you have witnessed the kind of scene that Jesus described here. Some children want to play one game and others don’t want to play that game so they criticize the first game. Then other children think of another game and some of the children don’t want to play that other game so they criticize it.
The two games here are “Wedding” and “Funeral.” The reference to the playing of the flute and the dancing describes a wedding, while the singing of the dirge and the mourning refer to a funeral. Weddings and funerals were the big social events of the time. Each lasted several days, and each involved large numbers of people. Funerals and weddings were about the most excitement that children saw on a regular basis.
I think we can easily imagine the scene that Jesus is painting for us. A group of children saying, “Let’s play wedding.” So, they pick a boy to play the groom and a girl to play the bride, others to play the attendants, friends, family members, and musicians. They say, “Play the music, let’s dance!” But some of the kids (probably nine and ten year old boys) don’t want to play wedding—maybe they think only girls want to play that. So they say, “Let’s play funeral.” So, they pick someone to play the corpse, others get chosen to be pall bearers, musicians, and mourners. They say, “Play the sad music, let’s all mourn.” But the other children say, “We don’t want to play funeral, that’s sick!” So back and forth the arguments go.
And any adult watching those kids understands some of these children are just being selfish. And Jesus says, “That is what you are like”. You are like a bunch of spoiled children who are only interested in doing what you want and you are unwilling to change your mind. Jesus says they are like a bunch of spoiled, selfish kids who are unwilling to change to enter the kingdom.
Obviously, that is a harsh rebuke. They are being childish, selfish, and unbending. Is that true of their generation? Jesus shows it is by following up His comparison with the evidence. In Matthew 11:18-19 Jesus applied the analogy to the way they criticized the ministries of both John the Baptist and Jesus: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” John came with a very serious message of repentance while living an austere life as a Nazirite. He didn’t eat or drink the pleasant common foods, but instead ate locust and wild honey. John came abstaining from all worldly desires and commanding them to repent. How did they respond to John? They wrote him off as demon-possessed and rejected his message.
By contrast, Jesus came as the opposite. If John was the funeral, then Jesus was the wedding. Jesus was a man among men. He lived in the city; and ate and drank and feasted. He enjoyed people. He even reached out to the outcasts of society—tax collectors and sinners—with His message of grace and mercy. He loved people and called them to repent. How did they respond? They said that Jesus could not be a holy man from God since He ate and drank with the wrong kind of people. They called Him a glutton and a drunkard.
The point, of course, was that there was no way to please these critics. They were acting like spoiled, selfish children who were never satisfied. Jesus’ critics were not interested in the truth. They were childish people criticizing the men whom God had sent to bring the kingdom of God. Jesus and John both preached about repentance and entering the kingdom and they rejected the message by criticizing the messenger.
But look at Jesus’ closing words to them. He said, “But wisdom is justified by her children” (Matt. 11:19) or, as some of your translations may have it, “by her works”. As the NASB translates it, “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Jesus says it is your deeds that show your wisdom. They may say and claim whatever they want, but the truth shows up in their actions.
Jesus says that generation was filled with people who refused to repent and accept the kingdom. They refused to change because they thought they were righteous. They were sure that they were right and could not possibly be wrong and therefore they were unwilling to listen, repent, or believe. Because they thought they were wise, many Jews refused to listen to John the Baptist or even the Son of God Himself. They thought they were wise.
But Jesus says, “No! wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” When you do what is wise then you can be called wise. James echoes that thought in his epistle writing,
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18).
True wisdom is shown through its “good behavior” and its “deeds”. Claiming to be wise means nothing if you do not do what is wise.
What could these people have done that would have demonstrated wisdom? They could have listened to John the Baptist and repented. They could have listened to Jesus and followed Him. But they didn’t do that. They called John a demoniac and Jesus a drunk. Was that wise? It is not wise to cling to the sin God commands you to let go. It is not wise to reject the only Savior this world will ever have. These people weren’t wise. They were selfish, naïve, foolish children. And they proved it by their rejection of both John and Jesus.
But the critics were not the only people who rejected Jesus. Next Jesus condemns …
2. The Unrepentant (Matt. 11:20-24)
Matthew 11:20 says, “Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.”
Notice Jesus denounces them not because they had sinned, but because they did not repent. We all sin, and if sin was an unrepairable breach between us and God, we would all be lost. But fortunately, sin is repairable. Jesus came into the world to die for sin so that we could be forgiven. Jesus doesn’t denounce those who sin. He denounces those who do not repent.[2]
Jesus particularly singles out the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed – Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. These three cities had greater privilege and opportunity than many other cities where Jesus had performed less miracles or no miracles at all. We know from the gospels that crowds of people followed Jesus, fascinated by His miracles. But Jesus was not looking for people to be amazed—He was looking for people to repent.
I’d like to take just a moment to explain that word “repent”. The word “repent”, in the original language, combines the prefix “meta” which means “with or after” and “nous” which means “the understanding”, or “the mind”. The combination of those two words gives the idea of “understand after” or “with”, and thus, the word metanoeõ came to mean “to change one’s mind” or “understanding”. It usually involved the idea of “remorse” or “regret” for having had the wrong thinking in the first place.[3]
“Repentance”, then, first of all, involves a change of mind or attitude—a change on the inside. It’s a change of heart and mind that results in a change in behavior. An inner change that produces an outer change.
In short, “to repent” would mean that you change your mind toward Jesus. It means that, from the heart, you have seen who Jesus is and what He is like. You have come to understand that by His glorious works, He has proven Himself to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And now, understanding that truth, you yield to His rightful lordship over you. Obviously, this will involve a change of action. You will, by necessity, turn away from sin. Your behavior will change. But it is, first and foremost, a change of mind – a change of attitude.
Here is the problem with the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Remember that a large portion of Jesus’ ministry was done in Galilee where all three of these cities were located. Capernaum was located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was the town that Jesus had chosen to be His home during the period of His Galilean ministry (Matt. 4:13). Chorazin was a small village nestled in the hills about 2 1/2 miles north of Capernaum. It may be near where Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount. Bethsaida was located farther north and to the west in the plains of Gennesaret and was the original hometown of Philip, Andrew, and Peter (John 1:44).
Not only had Jesus been to each of these towns teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness (Matthew 10:35), but Capernaum was the site of many of the Lord’s miracles including the healing of the Centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13), the healing of the nobleman’s son (John 4:26-54), the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14, 15) and the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:2-8). Matthew 8:16 records that it was in Capernaum that ” they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick.” It was also probably in Capernaum that Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Matt. 9:18-26).
Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida would have no excuse for not responding to the Lord. They had heard His message with their own ears and seen His miracles with their own eyes. Yet their response was largely indifference. Oh, they rejoiced when they were physically healed, and they were amazed by all that Jesus did, but there was little to no personal commitment to Jesus. They were fickle like the crowds that followed Jesus after He had fed the five thousand. They liked the miracles, they ate the food, and enjoyed the show, but when the call to follow in Jesus’ footsteps was made, they were quick to retreat (John 6:66). There was no true belief on their part, only a passing interest in Jesus. Life went on and they quickly returned to their daily activities with no further thought of Jesus.
Jesus’ condemnation of them is strong. Listen to Matthew 11:21-22: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! 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. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.“
Consider that Tyre and Sidon were two gentile cities inhabited by the Phoenicians. These two cities epitomized pagan gentile corruption and worthlessness. They were centers of Baal worship and were noted for their immorality and godlessness even by pagan standards. In the past, they had sold Jews into slavery (Amos 1:9) and one king was so wicked that he was used by the prophet Ezekiel as an illustration of Satan (Ezekiel 28:11-15). God destroyed Tyre according to the word of the prophets (Ezekiel 28:16-19, cf. Jeremiah 25:22; 47:4). Yet we find here that Jesus says that these cities would have responded better than Chorazin and Bethsaida to the Lord’s ministry. Therefore, it would be more tolerable for them in the day of judgment than for the cities that were indifferent to Jesus.
In the same manner, Jesus denounces Capernaum in Matthew 11:23-24, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
The people of Capernaum were proud and thought themselves worthy of being exalted to heaven. Jesus says that instead, they would descend to Hades, here a reference for eternal hell. It would be better for Sodom in the day of judgment than for Capernaum. Sodom was and is the prime illustration of moral depravity. Its name came to describe the most extreme forms of homosexuality and sexual depravity. Genesis 19 describes them being so utterly corrupt that even after they were supernaturally blinded by angels, they were so enslaved to their immorality that they ” became weary trying to find the door” in order to satisfy their perverted lusts. God totally destroyed Sodom and its sister city of Gomorrah through a rain of fire and brimstone which came out of heaven (Genesis 19:24).
Sodom was immoral, but Israel was indifferent, and so Israel’s judgment will be worse. The immoral are judged but a more severe judgment is for the indifferent. These cities thought that they were elevated to the heavens because of what they were privileged to see, but Jesus lets them know that they stand condemned, not because of what they saw, but because of what they did not do BECAUSE of what they saw.
Later, in Matthew 12, Jesus will say;
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. (Matt. 12:41-42).
These never saw Jesus’ mighty works. They saw lesser works of God through Jonah and Solomon. And yet, they responded with repentance and a seeking after God because of what they saw. Their response to what they saw revealed the character of what was truly in their hearts. And yet, those of Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum who had a clearer blessing from God—the blessing of seeing the mighty works of Jesus firsthand—did not respond with genuine repentance. Their response of indifference revealed the sinful unbelief in their hearts.
You and I have the testimony of Jesus in an even clearer way than they did. What does our response reveal to be the condition of our hearts?
We live in a privileged time and place. We have access to the gospel. There are churches scattered throughout this land. There are numerous Christian radio stations and Christian television programs. Bookstores are filled with Christian books. Most of us have several copies of God’s word. We have access to more good Bible teaching and tools than any generation that preceded us. But most in our society have grown indifferent to that truth. And indifference is far more dangerous than ignorance.
The same is true for immorality. We imagine that God will judge abortion doctors, homosexuals, greedy lawyers, and corrupt politicians. And certainly, God judges those things. But there is a more severe judgment for those who had the privilege of hearing the Word of God and seeing the works of God and who then ignore it.
All of us are sinners, and so all of us need to repent of our sins. What will happen to those who do not repent? They will be punished, severely. If you do not repent of your sins, then you must pay the full penalty for your sins. Those who hear the gospel and reject Christ will receive the most severe punishment of all.
If you are not a Christian, this means that today is the day to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess your sin to Him, believe that He died for your sin and was raised for your justification.
If you think you are a Christian, it means that obedience to Jesus’ commands is important. We cannot take from Him what we want and ignore what we don’t like. Being a Christian means to be like Christ and that comes through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. You yield yourself to the Lord by submitting to His Spirit and doing His word.
Jesus’ invitation to sinners comes at the end of Matthew 11. “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). To obey those words from the heart–that’s a true response of repentance and faith.
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[1] Scott Harris, The Critical & The Apathetic – Matthew 11:16-24, https://www.gracebibleny.org/the_critical_the_apathetic_matthew_11_16_24. I adapted Harris’ outline and drew from some of his points in this sermon.
[2] Ray Fowler, Those Who Do Not Repent, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/those-who-do-not-repent/
[3] Greg Allen, What Have You Done with Jesus’ Great Works?, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2006/042306.htm#f1
