<p>11:23&nbsp;<em>And you Capernaum, shall you be exalted to heaven? -&nbsp;</em>Here we have another example of the Bible being written from the perspective of men. Capernaum was exalted in her own eyes, the people there were spiritually proud and exalted in their own eyes. Likewise &ldquo;the wise&rdquo; in :25 refers to those who thought they were wise.</p>
<p><em>You shall go down to hades-</em>&nbsp;The prophecy against Babylon of Isaiah 14 is here applied to the towns of Israel. The point is that the condemnation of the wicked Gentiles will come upon those of God&rsquo;s people who act like them. Likewise the punishment of Babylon was to be cast as a millstone into the sea, but this is applied by the Lord to those of God&rsquo;s people who make their brethren stumble (Mt. 18:6; Rev. 18:21).</p>
<p><em>For if the mighty works-&nbsp;</em>The Greek&nbsp;<em>dunamis</em>&nbsp;also has the sense of ability, possible power. The miracles, to which the &ldquo;mighty works&rdquo; clearly refer, had potential power to bring the people to repentance, but they were content to just accept the temporal blessings of knowing Jesus rather than being moved by those blessings to repentance.</p>
<p><em>Had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes-&nbsp;</em>The Lord knew that cities like Tyre and Sidon would have responded to the Gospel in the first century; had it been preached to them. But the message was taken to Jewish villages like Chorazin and Bethsaida instead. Such was God&rsquo;s love, His especial and exclusive love for Israel. Sodom likewise would have repented if the message of Lot had been backed up by miracles; but, that extra proof wasn&rsquo;t given. But such a concession was made to Israel through the ministry and miracles of Jesus.</p>