parts of it which were near to the Sea of Tiberias. On this occasion Chorazin and Bethsaida had been frequently blessed with his presence; but Capernaum had been distinguished from all the rest by this inestimable privilege, as you will afterwards hear, it is no wonder therefore, that he thought proper to upbraid all these cities for their continued unbelief and impenitency; and that Capernaum which had been so distinguished by the favours he had conferred upon it, should be threatened with distinguished calamity and ruin. He began to upbraid the cities in which most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not; Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes: But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. This was saying much; but as the privileges of Capernaum had been still greater, its doom is yet more awful: And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until 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*. In which words it may be proper for us to consider, I. The privileges Capernaum had enjoyed, and the distinctions which had been made in its favour. II. Its ungrateful abuse of these distinguised favours of providence and of grace. III. The dreadful doom which it righteously incurred by that abuse. And after the survey of these particulars, we shall Conclude with a few hints of plain and serious application. And you men of Britain, and inhabitants of London, judge I pray you this day between Christ and Capernaum; and say, whether there was any unjust severity in the sentence he passed upon it. Hear attentively, and judge impartially; but take heed, lest while you judge others, you condemn yourselves. Let us consider, I. The privileges Capernaum had enjoyed, and the distinctions which had been made in its favour. And here I would observe, It had been distinguished by temporal advantages,—but much more, by spiritual privileges and opportunities. *Mat. xi. 20, 21, 22. 1. It had been distinguished by the temporal advantages of a rich and flourishing city. Such we are told it was; and in this sense it was Exalted unto heaven; a phrase, by which the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom is described *. The land of Israel in general, was a rich and pleasant land, which the all-surveying eye of God Had spied out †, as he him-self expresses it, for his favourite people: Aud this elegant city lay upon the confines of Zebulon, and of Napthali; concerning the former of which tribes it was foretold, that it should Suck of the abundance of the sea, and the treasures hid in the sand‡; and concerning the latter, that it should Be satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord §; possessing by this situation the west and the south, though it lay towards the north-east part of the land. A prophecy remarkably verified by those advantages which Jordan and the sea of Galilee gave it, for maintaining a commerce with those parts. It lay also in the near neighbourhood of Asher, of whom it was predicted, that his bread should be fat, that he should yield royal dainties, And dip his feet in oil ¶. And what is particularly worthy of our present notice, Capernaum was situated in the land of Gennesareth, one of the most delicious spots of ground in the whole Jewish territories. Josephus has given us a very particular description of it, which shews how properly that tract of land had the name of Gennesareth, which may well signify the pardon of a prince, according to the import of gen sar, from whence it seems to be derived: For he tells us **, "That it was plentifully watered by a most delicious spring, that went by the name of Capernaum, and every thing flourished about it: The air seemed, not only to nourish, but to preserve the fruits produced there, so that there were figs and grapes for ten months in the year, and other kind of fruits all the year round; and by a very peculiar felicity, nuts, palms, and figs, and olives, though they required generally a very different situation, all abounded there in great plenty." To this we may add, that it had also some particular advantages for commerce, being situated, according to the most accurate geographer, near that mouth of Jordan, by which it emptied itself into the sea of Galilee; the city of Capernaum * Dan. iv. 22. † Ezek. xx. 6. ‡ Deut. xxxiii. 19. § Ver. 23. || Gen. xlix. 20. ¶ Deut. xxxiii. 24. ** Joseph. de Bell. Jud. lib. iii, cap. 10. § 8. lying on its western shore, as Chorazin its opposite neighbour did on its eastern. In consequence of this, it would lie directly in the way of those, who came from Damascus, and Cæsarea Philippi to Jerusalem and the southern parts of the country; or of those that went from thence, to those very celebrated cities, and others in their much frequented neighbourhood. It is therefore no wonder, if with all these advantages it became a very flourishing place; no wonder, if its buildings were magnificent, its inhabitants rich, its gardens delicious, and its manners polite; no wonder, if they that dwelt in Capernaum thought, The lines were fallen to them in pleasant places *. They had special reason to do so, if we consider, 2. How much more eminently it was distinguished by spiritual privileges. It had, we find, its synagogues for public worship; but what was its peculiar glory, it had Jesus to preach in them, and to confirm his doctrine by wonderful works. There is hardly a place in the whole land, except it be Jerusalem, of which we read so much in the account which the evangelists have given us of our Saviour's life. He went down to Capernaum, with his mother, and brethren, and disciples ↑, and continued there a while, in the very opening of his ministry, after he had turned the water into wine at the neighbouring town of Cana in Galilee. It is not improbable, he took it in his way from Judea to Nazareth, when he was returning from his first passover; and we are expressly told, that Leaving Nazareth, when so base and ungrateful an attempt was made upon his life there, he came and dwelt in Capernaum ‡. And though he left that place quickly after, when importuned to stay, that he might pursue his business in other parts of Galilee §; yet when that circuit was done, he returned thither again, continuing there as it seems till his second passover. We find him in that neighbourhood again, presently after that passover ¶¶; and such was his love to it, that notwithstanding the impenitence he here laments, he afterwards visited it again and again**. During these repeated sojournings amongst them, we may assure ourselves, that he gave them the most excellent instructions, Preaching repentance, as the kingdom of heaven was approaching ++. We know, that He spake as never man spake ; and here no doubt, as every where else, his words *Psal. xvi. 6. + John ii. 12. Luke vii. 1. ‡‡ John vii. 46. Mat. iv. 13. § Mark i. 37-39. ** Luke viii. 41. Mark vi. 1. John vi. 59. were as awful, as they were gracious and endearing. We likewise know, that his instructions were every where illustrated by the commanding force of a most amiable, and in him a most perfect example. And to all this, to the discourses he delivered, and the consummate pattern which he gave of universal goodness, was added the weight of many most astonishing miracles; with reference to which it seems, that no other place was equally distinguished. The wonderful works which Christ had done at Capernaum, are spoken of by himself, as known to all the inhabitants of Nazareth; who were therefore ready to say, Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thine own country* And many more were done after that. At Capernaum he healed the nobleman's son †, while he was himself at a distance in Cana: At Capernaum he Cast out a devil ‡ in the public synagogue on a sabbath day. At Capernaum he cured Peter's wife's mother of a fever §: At Capernaum they brought to him All that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils ; yea, All that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them : At Capernaum it was, that The power of the Lord was present to heal great numbers, before the Pharisees and doctors of the law, who were come thither out of every town of Galilee and Judea ** to a place which was become so illustrious: And it was here, and in the midst of this assembly, that he cured the Paralytic, who was let down by cords into the place, to which they could get no other access but from the top of the house ++: It was here also at Capernaum, that he cured The Centurion's servant ‡‡, before he came under the roof where he was: And in another visit, some time after these words in the text were spoken, it was here that he cured the Woman by the touch of his garment, and raised the daughter of Jairus to life §§. This is a brief and imperfect view of the advantages Capernaum enjoyed: How justly therefore with respect to these might it be said, it was exalted unto heaven! How reasonably might it have been expected then, that Capernaum, thus divinely taught, thus miraculously relieved, should have been remarkable for its diligent attention to the doctrines of our Lord, and its ready obedience to his gospel! But alas, we cannot forget the connection in which these advantages have been surveyed; and it must be the business of our next general, to consider, II. The abuse of these privileges; for wretchedly abused they were. It is expressly said here, that They repented not *: Which implies, that many sins were to be found among them ;—and that they would not be reformed under all the endeavours which the Son of God himself thought proper to use for that purpose. 1. It is certain, that many sins were to be found among them. They could not otherwise have stood in such need of repentance, as to have been obnoxious to so dreadful a sentence for their impenitence. Guilty they undoubtedly were of many evils, but we cannot certainly pronounce as to the particulars : Probably they were such as are commonly to be found in opulent and elegant cities, where the materials of luxury abound, and temptations to it are multiplied. We may reasonably suppose, that irreligion led on the train here, as it does wherever iniquity abounds. Perhaps the worship of God, might be neglected, and that neglect lay at the door of every other evil and enormity. The synagogues might be unfrequented, especially by the rich and the great; unless when curiosity drew them thither, on the same principles as those on which it might have drawn them to a theatre: And though the terrors of the law that hung over their heads, might prevent that breach of the sabbath, which it pronounced a capital offence, yet it is highly probable, that it might be a day of idleness and diversion, and in no other view might be Called a delight t; so that being perverted from its original purpose, it turned into an occasion of mischief, rather than of benefit, and left them more sensual and vicious than it found them. Perhaps, amidst their many Merchants, the balances of deceit might be in their hands; the arts of dishonest gain might be practised, till every sense of their infamy was lost, amidst the numbers by which they were countenanced; till their palaces were cemented by the tears of oppressed widows and orphans, The stone crying out of the wall, and the beam from the timber answering it §. * Mat. xi. 20. +Isa. Iviii. 13. Hos. xii. 7. § Hab. ii. 11. |