What does Luke 10:13 mean?
While preparing seventy-two disciples to heal, cast out demons, and announce the coming of the kingdom of God (Luke 10:1–9, 17), Jesus takes a moment to express grief. He mourns local cities which had every chance to accept His message but refused. The places He mentions are specific, but they are representative of any town that rejects the call to repentance, as seen in the vagueness of "a town" and "that town" (Luke 10:8, 12).The region around Chorazin and Bethsaida was largely filled with Jews who should recognize Jesus is the Messiah based on the prophecies in their Scriptures. Conversely, the Gospels only record Jesus going to Tyre and Sidon when He wanted time away from the crowds to teach His disciples, and He only performed one miracle there (Mark 7:24–30). And yet, He asserts, the idolatrous, pagan, Gentiles—had they seen His miracles—would have repented of their sins and mourned in the traditional manner of sackcloth and ashes.
Jesus did minister to people who came from Tyre and Sidon (Luke 6:17), but why didn't He spend more time with them? His ministry was primarily for the Jews. God promised Abraham that his descendants would bless the world. They did, by providing Jesus, but they were supposed to accept Jesus as their Messiah and introduce salvation through Him to the world. Instead, they led the Gentiles to kill Jesus. At this point, however, God gave the Jews a chance. Just as God gave the Amorites time to decide whether to repent or fulfill their potential for sin (Genesis 15:16), so He gave the Jews the chance to choose.
Historians are unsure as to Chorazin's exact location. It is only mentioned here and in Matthew's parallel passage (Matthew 11:21). Bethsaida is on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, Andrew, and Philip were from Bethsaida, and it's near where Jesus miraculously fed thousands (John 1:44; Luke 9:10). Other than that, we only know that Jesus healed a blind man there (Mark 8:22). Apparently, however, the residents had seen enough miracles that they had no excuse for their rejection of Jesus.
Tyre and Sidon were two cities on the coast of Phoenicia, north of Galilee. These regions had a love/hate relationship with Israel. During the time of David and Solomon, they had a good relationship, even providing lumber for both Solomon's temple and the post-exilic temple (1 Chronicles 22:4; Ezra 3:7). They also had less-noble moments. Tyre sold Israelite slaves to Edom (Amos 1:9) and Sidon was the hometown of the evil queen Jezebel (1 Kings 16:31). In judgment, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to conquer the inland city of Tyre and Alexander the Great to destroy the island (Ezekiel 29:17–20). "Tyre and Sidon" are often mentioned together to represent the geographic area. There's no great indication that the people of Tyre and Sidon came to follow Jesus, but at least one woman did: the Syrophoenician woman with the demonized daughter (Mark 7:24–30).
Here, Jesus says that two pagan, Gentile cities would have reacted more favorably to His miracles and message than two cities with a heavy Jewish population. Later, He will make a similar comparison between the Jewish religious leaders who keep insisting on signs and the Queen of Sheba who believed because she saw the wisdom of Solomon. Even more shocking, the evil, vicious, cruel men of Nineveh repented because of Jonah's message, but the Jews who have every advantage refuse to (Luke 11:29–32).
