Woe to you!

The opposite of the benediction, “Blessed are you!” is the malediction, “Woe to you!” In Luke’s Beatitudes, the four blessings have their corresponding “Woes” (Lk 6:20-26). Here in Matthew, Jesus pronounces the “Woe” as a warning to towns who have witnessed his miracles but have not repented.

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Jesus’ preaching and mighty deeds are not for people’s satisfaction as “privileged people” of God but as a call to repentance because these are signs that the Kingdom of God has come and must be received with a humble disposition. The lack of repentance of the Jewish residents of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum—towns by the Sea of Galilee—can be compared to the arrogance and indifference of pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon.