Woe unto you, Chorazin! woe unto you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they would have a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
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Bede
AD 735
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, Tiberiasalso which John mentions, are cities of Galilee situated on the shore of the lake ofGennesaret, which is called by the Evangelists the sea of Galilee or Tiberias. Our Lord thus mourns over these cities which after such great miracles and wonders repented not, and are worse than the Gentiles who break through the law of nature only, seeing that after despising the written law, they feared not to despise also the Son of God and His glory. Hence it follows, For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes By sackcloth, which is woven together from the hairs of goats, he signifies a sharp remembrance of previous sin. But by ashes, he hints at the consideration of death, by which we are reduced to dust. Again, by the sitting down, he implies the lowliness of our conscience. Now we have seen in this day the word of the Savior fulfilled, since Chorazin and Bethsaida, though our Lord was as present among them, believed not, and Tyre and Sidon were friendly both to David and Solomon, and afterwards believed in the disciples of Christ who preached the Gospel there.
This sentence admits of two meanings: Either for this reason shall you be thrust down into hell, because you proudly resisted My preaching; that in truth she might be understood to have raised herself up to heaven by her pride. Or, because you are exalted to heaven by My dwelling in you, and by My miracles, halt you be beaten with more stripes, since even these you refused to believe. And that no one should suppose that this interpretation applied only either to the cities or the persons who, seeing our Lord in the flesh despised Him, and not to all also who now despise the words of the Gospel, Ho proceeds to add these words, He that hears you, hears me.
That is, that every one indeed on hearing or despising the preaching of the Gospel might learn that he is not despising or hearing the mere individual preacher, but our Lord and Savior, nay the Father Himself; for it follows, And he that despises me, despises him that sent me. For the Master is heard in His disciple, the Father honored in His Son.
It may also be understood as follows, He who despises you, despises me, that is, he who shows not mercy to one of the least of My brethren, neither shows it to Me. But he who despises me, (refusing to believe on the Son of God,) despise shim that sent me. For I and my Father are one.
