Anchor My Faith

No Different than their Forefathers

Scripture: Matthew 23:34-36; Luke 11:49-51, 53-54

In the last lesson we finished up a series of nine woes, which were found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. In this lesson we will look further at what Jesus said about how the prophets and wise men were treated when God sent them to instruct the Jews.

^{Lk 11:49} “Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ^{Mt 23:34} I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town ^{Lk 11:50} so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, ^{Mt 23:35} the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

I found it interesting to look through the commentaries to see what was said about “the Wisdom of God said” and found a variety of possibilities. Consider Matthew 10:16 ESV: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” This is Jesus speaking and saying, “I am sending you out.” Looking at Matthew 23:29 – 36, we find Jesus is speaking and in the middle of that paragraph at verse 34 we find, “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men.” This seems to imply that it was Jesus who in time past sent the prophets and wise men. Looking at Luke 11:49 ESV, we find, “Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles.’” In 1 Corinthians 1:24 we find, “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” With this information, I feel safe in replacing “the Wisdom of God” in Luke 11:49 with the name “Jesus.” It was Jesus who in time past sent to them prophets and wise men who they mistreated.

The blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, is expressed using the two end points of Abel and Zechariah. The account of Abel is found at Genesis 4:8 – 11 and that of Zechariah at 2 Chronicles 24:20 – 22. Abel was the first person murdered in the Old Testament and Zechariah was the last.

There is some difficulty in determining who the son of Barachiah is. A rather long discussion of this is found in the footnote of the ESV Study Bible for Matthew 23:35 on page 1872 and will not be included here.

Jesus concludes this paragraph of narrative with the statement, “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Standing before these people is their Messiah and Savior who was sent by God to instruct them as were the prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus has been rejected and will be murdered by these people to continue the killing of their forefathers. Their Messiah and Savior will come once again to his people but only after a time of great judgment and at a time when they are finally ready to receive him.

^{Lk 11:53} “As [Jesus] went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.”

These scribes and Pharisees were not interested in learning from Jesus. Their only intent was to get him to say something they could use against him, but that would be impossible for Jesus would live his life without sin.

Conclusion

Coming to the end of a rather long section on hypocrisy, we need to stop and think of how this material applies to us. Is it possible that you claim to have moral standards or beliefs to which your behavior does not conform? Consider about 1 John 1:8 – 10 as you answer the above question.