Matthew 11:23

Friday, 11 July 2025

 

And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. Matthew 11:23

 

“And you, Capernaum, the ‘until heaven you having been elevated,’ until Hades, you will be descended. For if in Sodom they occurred – the miracles, the ‘having occurred in you’ – it remained, if until the day” (CG).

 

In the previous verse, Jesus referred to the difference between Tyre and Sidon and Chorazin and Bethsaida on the day of judgment. Next, He says, “And you, Capernaum.”

 

More miracles of Jesus are recorded in Capernaum than in any other city. It was essentially His staging area, going and returning to it while ministering to other cities. So notable were His miracles there that in Luke 4:23, it says –

 

“He said to them, ‘You will surely say this proverb to Me, “Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.”’”

 

In other words, the word about His miracles in Capernaum had extended beyond there, filling the ears of people in other cities. It is 52 miles from Capernaum to Nazareth, indicating that what the people saw in Capernaum was more than a curious event spoken by a couple of friends, but a word that was conveyed with such excitement that it was passed on until many were made aware of what transpired. Of Capernaum, Jesus next calls it, “the ‘until heaven you having been elevated.’”

 

Here, Jesus introduces the word hupsoó, to exalt. Specifically, it means to raise high or lift up. Metaphorically, the idea of exaltation is then seen.

 

The meaning is that because of Jesus’ ministry there, the people had been provided the highest form of God’s favor. They saw Jesus’ miracles, they witnessed His perfection, they heard His instruction, etc.

 

The incarnate Word of God made that city His dwelling and focal point for ministering to the nation of Israel. No greater favor could ever be imagined. What they saw and heard was more of a revelation of God’s favor and call upon the nation than that of any prophet before, including Moses. But because of their hardened hearts, Jesus says, “until Hades, you will be descended.”

 

Though they had the keys to heaven itself extended to them in the Person of Jesus and the ministry He conducted among them, they chose to reject Him and continue life apart from His saving grace.

 

Instead of continuing to be exalted to heaven, they would be cast down to Hades, meaning Sheol, the place of the dead, awaiting the final judgment. Unfortunately for the city, their judgment will not be a happy one. Jesus next says, “For if in Sodom.”

 

Without going any further, it is a note of utter contempt. Capernaum is being contrasted to the city representative of the epitome of wickedness in the Old Testament. The story of Sodom is recorded in Genesis, but it is referred to almost twenty times elsewhere in the Old Testament.

 

The city was so wicked that its misdeeds reached the ears of the Lord in heaven. It was judged and destroyed by fire. However, Jesus continues, saying that if “they occurred – the miracles, the ‘having occurred in you’ – it remained, if until the day.”

 

About two thousand years had passed since the time of Sodom’s destruction, and yet, Jesus says that if the miracles that were performed in Capernaum were performed in Sodom, the wicked city would have turned and been so affected by what He had done that they would have remained, without destruction, until that day.

 

Having said that, the destruction of Capernaum eventually came about in approximately the 7th century AD. The town was completely abandoned in the 11th century.

 

Life application: To this day, the stories concerning Jesus’ min