“Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein were done the most of his miracles, for that they had not done penance. ‘Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. And thou Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? Thou shalt go down even unto hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.’”
Jesus then proceeds to accuse the cities in which He had been busiest. These cities were not completely fruitless, as is seen with Bethsaida: “Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:42), showing that even in the most forsaken places, good can still be found for the eye that looks with compassion: “The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in darkness” (Ecclesiastes 2:14). This accusation is more of a lamentation, because Jesus does not wish woe upon them, but with tears in His eyes condemns those that refuse to love: “The ways of Sion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast: all her gates are broken down: her priests sigh: her virgins are in afflictions, and she is oppressed with bitterness” (Lamentations 1:4). “Corozain” means “my mystery,” because Jesus had come to them unveiling the mysteries of God’s love for His people, as well as what He is like and the things with which He is pleased: “God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2); “He that seeth me seeth the Father also” (John 14:9). “Bethsaida” means “house of fruits,” because within Bethsaida were performed an extraordinary number of actions showing the fruits of Christ’s love for His people: “The works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me” (John 10:25); “Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). In neither of these did the Lord find the hearts He sought: “And in the morning, returning into the city, he was hungry” for love. “And seeing a certain fig tree by the way side , he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only, and he saith to it: ‘May no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.’ And immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matthew 21:18-19). Jesus attests to Tyre and Sidon, cities wrapped in idolatry and vice: “For being mortal himself, he formeth a dead thing with his wicked hands. For he is better than they whom he worshippeth, because he indeed hath lived, though he were mortal, but they never” (Wisdom 15:17); “And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaias 64:6), because even in their filthiness, they would have repented at the presence of Love Incarnate: “Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed” (John 20:29). Jesus says they would have repented in sackcloth, the coarseness of which represents the pricking of the conscience in the presence of true love, and ashes, which denotes the dead, showing a concern for the state of one’s soul at death: “Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Jesus says elsewhere that He would go to those that did not hear the Gospel, yet still lived according to right reason, which is one translation of Logos, which is the term St. John used for “Word” when he said: “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), and preach to them: “For the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29), the latter of which awaits those in Tyre and Sidon. However, these did not have Jesus alive, present, walking in their midst, doing miracles and acts of love; they ignored the law of nature, but not the Light of Love. Bethsaida and Corozain not only acted against nature, but tore the Law and tread the pearls of Jesus underfoot: “Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you” (Matthew 7:6). He then moves on: “Capernaum” means “village of consolation,” as it is where Jesus came with the consolation of love, “As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaias 66:13), and had a heavenly station of hosting the Savior, the God of heaven, “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save: he will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will be silent in his love, he will be joyful over thee in praise” (Sophonias 3:17), yet is condemned for not believing in the divinity, love, and power of Jesus despite all of His great works. It is a proof of grave sin, of an incredible lack of love, to be condemned with greater gravity than Sodom: “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous” (Genesis 18:20), for before the wondrous love and glory of Jesus, those of Sodom may have welcomed the yoke of a love expressed justly: “For my yoke is sweet and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30); “He that feareth God, will do good: and he that possesseth justice, shall lay hold on her” (Ecclesiasticus 15:1). It can also be said that the Lord, knowing that Tyre and Sidon, if they received Him at that time, would eventually fall away, therefore He did not actually go to them that they would believe, lessening their guilt, for though they would be lost, it would not be under such gravity as if they had received Him and then fallen away, and here is one last mystery to be unveiled: That it is better to reject the love of Jesus than to commit adultery against Him, for a lover spurned is not as wounded in the heart as a spouse set aside for another: “She is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her put away her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts” (Osee 2:2); “For the land by fornication shall depart from the Lord” (Osee 1:2). However, in His unfathomable love, the Lord will always welcome back even those who commit adultery with sin against Him: “It is commonly said: ‘If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? Shall not that woman be polluted, and defiled?’ But thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee” (Jeremias 3:1), for His love never fails, never changes, is infinite, glorious, never-failing, ever-reaching, and always looking to welcome back His beloved: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is full of dew” of forgiveness, love, and mercy, “and my locks of the drops of the nights” (Canticle 5:2), which indicates heavenly grace, which arrives unseen.