Matthew 11:22

But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment than for you.

It is not a mere personal opinion which Christ here utters, but a judgment which is fully equivalent to a curse. They had rejected Him and His Gospel, and so He is compelled to pronounce sentence upon them: Woe, judgment, condemnation! Chorazin was a town on the western side, on the road from Capernaum to Tyre, not far from the seashore. Bethsaida was on the other side of Capernaum, on the lake. Mark 6:45; Mark 8:22. Tyre and Sidon were heathen cities, and had often been the subject of prophetic curses, Isaiah 23:1; Ezekiel 26:2; Ezekiel 27:2; Zechariah 9:2; Jeremiah 25:22; Jeremiah 27:3; Joel 3:9. They are taken as representatives of the entire heathen world in their opposition to the true God, in their moral corruptness and idolatry. The contrast is purposely glaring: The Galilean cities signally blessed both temporally and spiritually from olden times, their inhabitants members of the chosen people of God, now distinguished more than ever by the sojourn of Christ in their midst with the revelation of His glory, with opportunities such as no other cities ever had; and the heathen cities that were visited only occasionally by a prophet of the Lord. The greater the grace, the greater the responsibility. On the Day of Judgment all these things will be taken into account and sentence rendered accordingly, Luke 12:47; Luke 13:34. Only the deepest and most sincere repentance, in black sackcloth, with ashes on the head, in token of penitence, is acceptable to Christ.