Jesus rebukes Chorazin 

'Woe to you, Chorazin!' (Luke 10.13) 

Looking around 

Chorazin was one of the three neighbouring places situated on the northern shore of Lake Galilee, where Jesus spent a significant part of his public ministry. Most people there lived in single-story, flat-roofed dwellings. Unless there was an adjacent court for their livestock, they shared their houses with their animals, which were kept at ground level, while the family occupied a raised platform. Barely a stone’s throw from the houses circling the village square, Chorazin’s synagogue stood out as the focal point of Jewish faith and life.  

You’d expect the pious country folk to welcome a miracle-working holy man with open arms. In fact, they ended up rejecting Jesus. The Bible tells us that they didn’t repent. In other words, they wanted Jesus to make them healthy and happy without devoting themselves completely to God and allowing him to take over their lives.   

Stepping closer 

To change, we sometimes need to be challenged. A good coach makes demands on their team, the kind teacher holds their students to account and a loving parent doesn’t let ignorance go unpunished. Jesus holds us accountable too – what have we done with his message?  

Jesus was known as the ‘friend of sinners’ who proclaimed good news to the poor. But he never shied away from challenging those who had seen much and done very little with it. 

Every miracle of Jesus was not an end, but a means to an end. The end? Jesus himself. The miracles display what the kingdom of God is like, but Chorazin wanted the kingdom without the king.  

A loving challenge to us: what have we done with Jesus? Are we like Chorazin? Do we come to him for his stuff, but not to him? Is Jesus a supplement or a saviour? What will we do with his message?