We are not sure of the ancient site of Capernaum. Two sites, Khan Minyeh and Tell Hum vie to be the ruins of Capernaum. Both are in the vicinity of Bethsaida and Chorazin: both are besides the waves of Galilee: both lie on the way of the sea. Josephus wrote that in the area of Galilee the cities lie very thick and the numerous villages are so full of people because of the fertility of the land….that the very smallest of them contain above fifteen thousand inhabitants. He adds that the people were active, industrious, cultivating every acre of their rich and beautiful soil. Many Romans and Greeks settled in the area because of the healthy climate and business opportunities.
All would agree that in the time of Jesus, Capernaum was a good town with a Jewish synagogue where the law was read every Sabbath and the children were taught to obey the law. It was a good place to live. It was the home of Peter, Andrew, James and John who made their living from the sea. Jesus made it his home for a while.
Sodom? No idea. It was the principal city of the plain which had four other sister cities – Gemorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Zoar. It was a beautiful place apparently (Gen. 13:10) and certainly Lot found it attractive as a place to live and do business. But we have no record in detail of the place and we do not know where it was except in general terms.
But one thing we know, we wouldn’t want to raise a family there! (cf. 2 Pet.2:8) It was a city filled with homosexuals who would not stop at homosexual gang rape, so consumed were they by their unnatural lust. It was worse than San Francisco or Sydney’s Gay Mardi Gras.
So Matt.11:23,24 comes as a real shocker. Capernaum worse off than Sodom on judgement day!!! Can you imagine a conversation where somebody replies to Jesus But Lord you can’t be serious! Don’t you know that Sodom was a sexually perverted town that was filled with pride and worshipped idols? It was there that Lot offered his daughters to the obsessed mob and they turned them down because they wanted men! In Capernaum such men would have been stoned. How could anyplace be worse than this?!
What was it that Jesus saw in those people at Capernaum that was worthy of greater punishment than the sexual depravity of ancient Sodom? The answer is a little shocking because the people in Capernaum were ‘church-going people’. They were people who read the sacred Scriptures every Sabbath. They were circumcised people, indicating they had a covenant relationship with God. They were good neighbours and hard workers.
First, they were self-righteous. Prov. 6:17 list pride as something that God hates. Luke 18:9-14 contrasts a self-righteous person with a penitent sinner. The self-righteous may even feel sorry for poor lost sinners, but as for himself he thanks God that he is not like them. A person who comes to God declaring his own righteousness, proud because he goes to worship and reads scripture and is in a covenant relationship with God, will be turned away because he has not found the first requirement of God’s kingdom – humility (cf. Matt. 18:3; Matt.5:3). A hard, impenitent, self-righteous heart is in the deepest mire of sin, even worse than Sodom. Being overtly religious is valuable, but also rather dangerous, because of the reading of scripture and going to worship and dedication to a moral life, a man might come to the conclusion that he is not like other men. Because he’s not an adulterer, unjust, an extortioner, he comes to think that he is without sin and loses his ability to get on his knees before God. Religion is wonderful when it opens eyes to the truth that all humans are weak and need a Saviour.
No man is without sin but it is easy to come to the place where he feels like he commits no “bad” sins like those in Sodom and therefore feels justified and in so doing doesn’t need a Saviour. A person who thinks he is righteous because of his own goodness doesn’t need a sacrifice for him (Rom. 10:1ff). Such were the people in Capernaum.
So, second, they rejected the gospel of the Saviour, because they felt they didn’t need it. What a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God knowing that you have rejected the person and message of the Lord. These words, His blood be upon us and our children were fateful words – words that would be regretted. Jesus had a relatively short life in a little place. What were the odds of living in the same place and at the same time as Jesus – and then reject Him! He came to His own and His own received Him not. (Jn 1:10,11)
Third, there is the consideration of the responsibility of privilege (cf. Rom. 2:26,27, 3:1,2; Lk 12:47,48). Note especially this principle in the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13:6-9. In this story we see a tree that was in a favoured spot, being planted in a vineyard. Even so Israel was favoured – God worked for them: they were enriched, protected and cultivated by the divine hand.
But God had expectations – He comes seeking fruit, and what is meant by fruit? Fruit is something visible; something beautiful (Gal. 5:22,23); something wholesome (Jas. 3:18); something useful (Phil.1:22); and something that honours the Father (John 15:8; Heb. 13:15). But there was disappointment because He found none. The soil was fertile, the culture was excellent, and the environment was good. So the problem was with the tree. Trees are meant to produce fruit.
Then follows anger. This was righteous anger and there was nothing hasty about it. For three years the owner of the tree had come looking for a harvest, but year after year the tree was barren. Even so, despite the fact the barren tree should be uprooted and replaced by a better tree, intercession is made on behalf of the tree for another year with some aeration and fertilizer to see if that could produce fruit. If that didn’t work then it would get the chop.
When John the Immerser and Jesus arrived on the scene, Israel was already on its last legs. Despite what God had done for them rising up early and sending prophet after prophet, the people had God on their lips but not in their heart. The ministries of John and Jesus produced some fruit amongst a remnant, but the nation in the main was unmoved by the gospel. So towns like Capernaum lived below their privilege and judgment would not be kind.