Worse than What

When Jesus sent out his apostles he told them to go to town in Israel and stay there.

As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet (Matt 10:12-14).

Jesus wanted them to go to places where the Holy Spirit was working. If the response was hostile, they should leave.
Then Jesus said something that is hard to digest.

Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town (Matt 10:15).

Sodom and Gomorrah are considered to be the worst of the worst. These towns were a hotbed of sexual immorality. Most Christians believe that it will be terrible for those towns on the day of judgment. Yet Jesus is saying that it will be worse for the towns that reject the apostles than it will be for Sodom and Gomorrah. How can that be?

The “hell” people believe that the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah will be tormented in hell for all eternity, so Jesus’ comment is hard to fit. The torment of the towns rejecting the apostles cannot be longer than eternity. The only other possibility is that the fire could be hotter for them, but that does not make sense.

The real meaning of Jesus’ words is that the last judgment will be more complicated than we can handle. Those who have trusted in Jesus will receive a different reward, depending on what they have done on earth. The same applies to those who do not receive Jesus. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah sinned badly, but they did not have the Holy Spirit working in their midst. They had not heard the gospel. They were enslaved by the spiritual powers of evil, so it is not clear how responsible they were for their actions.

I don’t know what their fate will be, but it will better than that of the towns of Israel who heard the gospel and rejected it. The scriptures do not tell us how this will work, so we should not pretend that we do.

We would like the final judgment to be black and white, but Jesus is saying that it will be incredibly messy. Fortunately, we do not have to make decisions about the fate of people who have not given their lives to Jesus. God has given that responsibility to Jesus. And just as Jesus confused his listeners in the first century, many of his decisions will shock us, too.