Sodom and Gomorrha

In Matthew 10:1-15, cf. Luke 10:1-12, Jesus declares certain cities more damnable than Sodom and Gomorrah, due to their response to Jesus' disciples, in the light of greater grace :

Matthew 10:1-15 (King James Version)

Matthew 10

 ¹And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

 ²Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

 ³Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

 ⁴Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

 ⁵These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

 ⁶But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 ⁷And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 ⁸Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

 ⁹Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,

 ¹⁰Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

 ¹¹And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

 ¹²And when ye come into an house, salute it.

 ¹³And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.

 ¹⁴And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

 ¹⁵Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Luke 10:1-12 (King James Version)

Luke 10

 ¹After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

 ²Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

 ³Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

 ⁴Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

 ⁵And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

 ⁶And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

 ⁷And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

 ⁸And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:

 ⁹And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

 ¹⁰But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,

 ¹¹Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

 ¹²But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

In Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus prophesies the fate of some cities where he did some of his works:

Matthew 11:20-24 (King James Version)

 ²⁰Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

 ²¹Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, 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.

 ²²But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

 ²³And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

 ²⁴But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

In Luke 17:28-30 Jesus describes the situation at His return and uses Sodom as an example of indifference; careless living;

Luke 17:28-30 (King James Version)

 ²⁸Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

 ²⁹But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

 ³⁰Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

In Romans 9:29 Paul quotes Isaiah 1:9-10

Romans 9:29 (King James Version)

 ²⁹And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

Isaiah 1:9-10 (King James Version)

 ⁹Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

 ¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of

In 2Peter 2:4-10 Peter uses the time of Sodom and Lot in his description of the time of the second coming of Jesus.

2 Peter 2:4-10 (King James Version)

 ⁴For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

 ⁵And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

 ⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

 ⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

 ⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

 ⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

 ¹⁰But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

Peter 2:6-9 (King James Version)

 ⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

 ⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

 ⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

 ⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Jude 1:7 records that both Sodom and Gomorrah were "giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

Mother Sigrid (Ziggy) Agocsi
Mother Superior OHR
Order of the Holy Rose
An Anglican-Catholic Order in affiliation with Bishop Ralph Napierski
MotherSuperiorOHR@googlemail.com
http://abbeyoftheholyrose.webs.com