“And 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.”
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. Capernaum, the headquarters of Jesus' Galilean ministry (Matthew 4:13), receives the most severe judgment: it will be brought down to Hades, echoing Isaiah 14:13–15's oracle against Babylon. Sodom — the city whose wickedness was so great that God destroyed it with fire — would have remained if it had seen what Capernaum saw. The comparison to Sodom is the strongest possible statement about Capernaum's culpability.
Church Fathers on Matthew 11:23
Thus far He had brought His accusation against the Jews in common; now against certain towns by name, in which He had specially preached, and yet they would not be converted; whence it is said, 'Then began he to upbraid the cities in which most of hie mighty works were done, because they had not repented.'
His upbraiding of the towns of Corozaim, Bethsaida, and Capharnaum, is set forth in this chapter, because He therefore upbraided them, because after He had such mighty works and wonders in them they had not done penitence. Whence He adds, 'Wo for thee, Corozaim! wo for thee, Bethsaida!'
That you should not say that they were by nature evil, He names Bethsaida, a town from which the Apostles had come; namely, Philip, and two pair of the chief of the Apostles, Peter and Andrew, James and John.