they would already be sitting in ashes and wearing the sackcloth of repentance.
Surely for Tyre and Sidon it will be better on the Day of Judgment than for you. And
what of you, city of Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown
down to the place of the dead.
Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me; and he who
rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.”
Reflect
In both the Old and the New Testaments, the harshest criticism was reserved not for
those without faith, but for those claimed to be religious but did not demonstrate their
faith through their actions. Baruch calls out the people of Israel for failing to live justly
and to keep to the covenant. In an effort to call them to conversion, Jesus uses the
example of gentile towns that did not know the one true God to shame those towns
that claimed to know God.
Our claim to faith in Jesus means that people will expect certain things of us. They
will expect our actions to match our words. If we proclaim a God who is just, merciful,
and loving, but we ignore the needy, bear grudges, and treat people with disdain, we
are being poor witnesses to our faith. Why would anyone draw near to a God who has
such followers? But if we allow God’s love to shine through us, we will bring a welcome
light, warmth, and hope to the world.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023