LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Misfortune of Capernaum
When the Lord began his ministry, he left Nazareth and moved to the neighboring city of Capernaum. There he established his center of activities.
Capernaum was the city that had him the most. The streets of it saw him pass many times, now tired from the exhausting trip, now renewed by a well-deserved rest. For the residents of the city, the face of Jesus was familiar, and his miracles became a daily matter, so much so that they no longer surprised anyone.
Capernaum was honored in the highest degree, as much as any other city before or since. Therefore, the Lord told her: "You are lifted up to heaven" (Matt. 11:23). However, the Lord's sentence does not end there: "Until Hades you will be dejected". From one extreme of low exaltation to the other extreme of degradation. From the highest peak to the most terrifying abyss. Why?
The Lord himself gives us the answer: "Because if the miracles that have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day". Capernaum had a happiness that Sodom did not; but he has a responsibility that she did not receive either.
Responsibility is proportional to honor. And Capernaum was not faithful to the honor that was conferred on it. The miracles of Jesus there had no effect on the heart. They agreed with Abraham, in that story of the rich man and Lazarus, when he said: "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31). Miracles can work on the heart no more than persuasion by the word of God works.
Jesus concludes: "Therefore I tell you that on the day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you". The end is frightening, lapidary. What will remain of the honor conferred on Capernaum? Just a smoke, witness to the just judgments of God.
But we should not be so terrified by the fate of Sodom, as by our own, if we do not believe in the Son of God. How will we escape, if in addition to the words of the Lord that will judge us on that day, the example of Capernaum will also work against us?