ルカによる福音書10:13-16 Luke 10:13-16,

あなたがたに耳を傾ける者は、わたしに耳を傾け、あなたがたを拒む者は、わたしを拒むのである。わたしを拒む者は、わたしを遣わされた方を拒むのである。（ルカ10:16）

ヨハネによる福音書の3章16節には「神は、その独り子をお与えになったほどに、世を愛された。独り子を信じる者が一人も滅びないで、永遠の命を得るためである」というよく知られている御言葉が記されています。これは、聖書全体のメッセージを一言で言い表したような素晴らしい御言葉です。神様は、イエス・キリストを信じる者が一人も滅びないで永遠の命を得るために、独り子イエス・キリストはこの世にお与えになったのでした。そして、それに続く17節にも「神が御子を世に遣わされたのは、世を裁くためではなく、御子によって世が救われるためである」とはっきりと記されています。ですから、私たちは「イエス・キリストを信じるならば、救われて永遠の命を得ることができます」という救いのメッセージを世の人々に宣べ伝えるのです。

しかし、神様がこの世の人々を救うために、独り子イエス・キリストをお遣わしになったのであっても、この世の人々がイエス・キリストを信じないならばどうなるでしょうか？つまり、神様が差し出してくださっている和解の手を、人間の側で握り返して握手をしないならばどうなるでしょうか？ もしそうであるならば、神様が和解を望んでおられるのに、人間の側でそれを拒否してしまったことになるのです。

神様が和解の手を差し出してくださっているのに、人間の側でそれを拒否するならば、その人は神様に逆らったままの状態であり続けます。神様に逆らったままの状態であるならば、いつかは自分の身に神様の裁きを招くことになります。そして、いつかは自分の身に神様の裁きを招くような状態であることは、それ自体ですでに裁かれている状態になっていると言わざるをえません。そこで、先ほどの箇所に続くヨハネによる福音書の3章18節には「御子を信じる者は裁かれない。信じない者は既に裁かれている。神の独り子の名を信じていないからである」と教えられています。そして、ヨハネによる福音書は、それに続く19節と20節で、この世の人々が救いをもたらしてくださったキリストをなぜ信じないのか、という理由を次のように説明しています。「光が世に来たのに、人々はその行いが悪いので、光よりも闇の方を好んだ。それが、もう裁きになっている。悪を行う者は皆、光を憎み、その行いが明るみに出されるのを恐れて、光の方に来ないからである。」

（7月21日の説教より)

When we read biographies of the lives of outstanding Christian preachers, we are told what a fine preacher he was and how he contributed to the salvation of people by proclaiming the salvation of Christ. However, even for those who are described in the biographies as such, not all of their evangelism actually bore fruit. It would be more accurate to say that God, by grace, led elected people to faith and made bear the fruit of evangelism, even though there were many experiences of evangelism that did not bear fruits. This is also true for a person like Rev. UEMURA Masahisa, who was once one of the great Christian leaders in Japan. And it is also true of pastors and Christians close to us.

During his life on earth, Jesus Christ preached the forgiveness of sins and did the work of salvation, healing the sick. However, the world of that time did not accept Christ. This is reflected in Christ’s death on the cross. It is also evident in the fact that Christ was often not accepted in the region of Galilee where he grew up. In Luke 7:34, when Christ preached the gospel in Galilee, people said of him, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” and they did not accept him. Christ’s eating and fellowship with marginalised sinners and proclaiming the gospel of salvation to them was thus maligned.

In today’s scripture passage, Christ names three towns in Galilee that do not accept him and announces woe to them. Some may be surprised to hear this woe coming from the mouth of Jesus Christ. Certainly, Christ spoke of many blessings and forgiveness. But he also spoke words of harsh judgement from time to time against those who did not believe in the gospel of salvation. Today’s Bible passage is an example of this. If you read Matthew 23, you will also find words of severe judgement against the scribes and Pharisees: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matthew 23:13) Today, we would like to consider Christ’s words of judgement.

The judgment words are not uncommon in the Bible. The Old Testament prophets spoke harsh words of judgement against those whose faith and lives had been disrupted by injustice, greed and idolatry. Their words of judgement often began with the phrase “woe to those who do ~.” For example, in Micah 2:1-2 of the Old Testament, the following words of judgement are spoken against greedy people who oppress the poor.

Woe to those who devise wickedness

and work evil on their beds!

When the morning dawns, they perform it,

because it is in the power of their hand.

They covet fields and seize them,

and houses, and take them away;

they oppress a man and his house,

a man and his inheritance.

 

When you read this, you will see that after the word “woe to,” it describes what these people have done. That is, the sin of these people was that they coveted their neighbour’s fields and houses and took them in an unjust way, despite the tenth commandment of the Ten Commandments of Moses tells them that they must not covet what is our neighbour’s.

What reason, then, does Christ give in today’s Scripture passage for announcing the woe to the three towns in Galilee? It is not in words that point directly to sin, as in the Old Testament, but rather in words that indirectly suggest sin that he is announcing the woe. First, in verse 13 we read as follows.

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Chorazin and Bethsaida are both names of towns in Galilee. Tyre and Sidon are the names of old Phoenician city-states dating from Old Testament times, where idolatry and covetousness were commonplace. “Sitting in sackcloth and ashes” was a way for repentant people to show their sorrow and repentance for their sins by wearing coarse cloths made of goat or camel fur or by placing themselves in ashes which symbolised transitory things. Thus, Christ’s words in verse 13 means: “You have seen the miracles I do, and yet you have not believed in me and repented. Therefore, you are more unbelieving and sinful than the pagan Phoenician towns of Tyrus and Sidon.”

And in the following verse 14, the words of judgement against these cities are spoken. Christ said against the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida, “But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.” This means that at the Last Judgement at the end of the world, the towns in Galilee who saw Christ’s miracles and heard the gospel but did not believe will be judged more severely than the pagan towns. Also in verse 15, against Capernaum, the place of Christ’s activities in Galilee, he pronounced the harsh judgement saying, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.” “Hades” means hell. Capernaum was also the hometown of Christ’s disciples Peter and Andrew. However, most of the people in Capernaum did not believe in Christ. Only a small percentage believed in Christ.

The words of judgement, “Will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades,” is based on the words of Isaiah 14:13-15 in the Old Testament. There, God’s judgement on Babylon, the great Mesopotamian power in Old Testament times, is pronounced as follows.

You said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

I will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

But you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit.

 

“Sheol” means hell as “Hades.” Christ was using these words of judgement against Babylon and applying them to the town of Capernaum, the hometown of Peter and Andrew.

Why, then, did those who saw Christ’s miracles and heard his teachings in the towns of Galilee not believe in him? Because they were offended by the fact that Christ was the child of Joseph the carpenter and his wife Mary, and that he was a man who had fellowship with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. In other words, people did not see that Christ was the one sent by God the Father in heaven. This was even more evident in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation. The people of Jerusalem, who had expected Jesus Christ to play the role of a political liberator who would free Israel from the Roman Empire, found out that Christ was not a political liberator, and when they realised that their expectations had been betrayed, they cried out for him to be crucified. The people of Jerusalem did not see that Christ was the one sent by God the Father in heaven. They were looking to see if Christ would live up to their expectations.

The verse that follows, verse 16, succinctly expresses the point of which we need to be most mindful. “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” The “you” in this case refers to the disciples of Christ. Therefore, whoever hears what Christ’s disciples say is hearing Christ, and whoever rejects what Christ’s disciples say is rejecting Christ. Even today, people sometimes say things like, “I can’t believe in Christianity because a person like Mr. XX believes it,” or “I can’t believe in Christianity because a person like Pastor XX teaches it.” However, it is fair to say that such statements are merely excuses for not believing in Christ. Such statements are merely shifting the responsibility for not believing onto others, hiding the fact that the reason they are not humbly listening to Christ’s word is arrogance in their own hearts. We must always keep our eyes on God, as Romans 3:4 states, “Let God be true though every one were a liar.” We must not look to Mr. XX or Pastor XX of the church, but to Christ, who uses them as disciples and servants. We must also look to God the Father himself, who sent Christ to earth.

In John 3:16 we read: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is a wonderful verse that seems to sum up the message of the entire Bible. God gave his only Son Jesus Christ to the world so that no one who believes in him should perish but have eternal life. And it is clearly stated in the following verse 17: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Therefore, we are to proclaim to the world the message of salvation: “If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will be saved and have eternal life.” But even though God sent his only Son Jesus Christ to save the people of the world, what happens if the people of the world do not believe in Jesus Christ? In other words, what happens if the hand of reconciliation that God is offering is not shaken back by the human side? If this is the case, then God wants to reconcile, but the human side has rejected it.

If God is offering the hand of reconciliation and a human being rejects it, that person will remain in a state of disobedience to God. If one remains in a state of disobedience to God, one will bring God’s judgement upon oneself one day. And it must be said that being in a state that will one day bring God’s judgement upon oneself is already a state of being judged in itself. Therefore, John 3:18, which follows the previous passage, says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And in the verses that follow, verses 19 and 20, John explains why the people of the world do not believe in Christ who has brought salvation, as follows.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

In New Testament times and today, there are many people who hear about Jesus Christ but do not believe in him. The reason for this is that they do “not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” The holy cross of Christ exposes our human sins. If we accept the cross of Christ in our hearts, we are made aware that the deeds we normally take for granted are sins in God’s eyes. And we are made aware of things that we had not previously recognised as sins, and we are made to repent of them. That is, we are made aware that we are repeatedly doing things contrary to God’s teachings. Therefore, people who do not want to admit that they are doing things contrary to God’s teachings will try to distance themselves from Christ for various reasons. They try to feel secure in thinking that they are good by comparing themselves with others. But such security is not real security. Real security is the security we receive when we are illuminated by the light of Christ to see ourselves as we really are, when we are made aware of our sins, when we believe in Christ and are forgiven of our sins and given eternal life. Let us be believers in Christ, not rejecters of him. And let us pray for the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit so that those around us will also be believers in Christ rather than rejecters of him.