Jesus severely criticized some of the Galilean cities in which He had performed many miracles: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, 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" (Matthew 11:21).
But the people of Tyre and Sidon had not repented of their idolatry. Are they, as some Christian denominations teach, eternally condemned? If God had sent Jesus in earlier ages to them, they would have repented. But God did not send Jesus to them. God allowed them to be punished by the Babylonians and, later, the Persians and Greeks. Why? Was not God trying to save them?
Jesus also admonished the city of Capernaum: "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" (verse 23).
Because of their grievous sins, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24-25). Some Christian denominations seem anxious to condemn them to eternal punishment. Yet Jesus said that if He had performed miracles in those cities, they would not have been destroyed. The people would have repented.
Is God fair? Yes. God knows that the people of Tyre, Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah had not been sent a prophet to warn them. They will be given a future opportunity to see Jesus' mighty works; they will have an opportunity to repent; and they will have an opportunity to be saved!
