Luke 10:12 “But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.”
Here we enter into one of the most important teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus establishes in His teaching that He is to be the Judge. In other words, He will be the one to decide how tolerable it will be for anyone in the Day of Judgment, which is what He refers to here.
Thus, it is important to see carefully what He says here. Sodom was a city racked with wickedness. It was so bad that once Lot and those connected to him were evacuated, the implication from Genesis is that there was less that ten righteous people left in the city before it was destroyed. And, it is not a stretch to say that there were none. God rained fire and brimstone on this place directly from heaven in one of the most obvious judgements in history.
So, in what sense can there be any comparison between Sodom and a city in the disciple’s path that rejected Jesus? The answer is a very foundational principle from Christ. People do not experience the greatest judgment, the least tolerable outcome, due to sin alone. Sin condemns to be sure. Because of sin we are all doomed to die and are separated spiritually from God. But, the doom to hell, and the lake of fire afterwards, is the result of rejecting the Savior.
The judgement of Sodom was the judgement of a whole city, not each individual in it. Those individuals will in the Day that Jesus judges, have a better time of it than a city of Jewish individuals rejecting Christ in the days of Christ on earth. The Sodomites had Lot, yes. But, these Jewish cities (and Samaritan and Gentile cities of the region) were made up of people who had more Scriptural truth available to them than Sodom would have had. And, it was the messengers of God Himself in the flesh on earth at the time that were coming to visit them.
Heavenly Father, thank You for making Your truth known to us! Having passages of Scripture such as this one is a great mercy to us. We realize that for those of us who have been given so much of Your truth, to respond positively is just expected behavior. Sometimes we get proud of ourselves and our response to You. Forgive me for being guilty of this! Oh Father, I love You, and I will praise You for Your wisdom and guidance in our lives. You have done all things well. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.