Jesus’ Interpretation of Sodom’s Sin (Matthew 10 vs. Genesis 19)

What Jesus says in Matthew 10:5–15:

Jesus instructs his disciples to go only to the lost sheep of Israel and emphasizes the urgency of preaching the kingdom of heaven, warning that towns rejecting them will face harsher judgment than Sodom.

• Focuses on rejection, inhospitality, and spiritual hardness, not sexual sin.

What Genesis 19 shows:

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their extreme wickedness and sinfulness, particularly highlighting acts of inhospitality and violence.

• Men of Sodom sought to abuse guests—a violent rejection of hospitality
  

• Traditional reading focuses on sexual sin, but that’s not the whole picture.

Sodom’s sin was:

• Pride
  
  

• Neglect of the poor
  
  

• Violence
  
  

• Inhospitality
  
  

• Rejection of divine messengers

So Jesus’ statement in Matthew is not a contradiction of Genesis—it’s

a theological interpretation that goes deeper than surface details.

It emphasizes

moral and spiritual failure, especially when people harden their hearts to truth and compassion.