Woe to You

Matthew 11:20-24

To visit Pattaya, Thailand at times feels like you've landed in Sodom and Gomorrah. During the day lecherous old white men walk down the beach with their "girlfriends" walking behind them. In the evening, hookers loiter on the streets smoking cigarettes waiting for their customers. Nothing is hidden.

If cities are to be judged, I can easily imagine Pattaya at the front of the line, but Pattaya might not even top the list of cities to be condemned. My guess is that there are hundreds of more respectable cities ahead of Pattaya on the list.

The reason I say this is because of how Jesus denounced the cities of his day. He said, “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:21-23).

Blatant vice is soul-sickening, but missing an opportunity to repent is worse. What if God says woe to you Orlando, Dallas, Wichita? God did miracles--God changed lives in your city and you refused to repent.