Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48 Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. 49 Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50 in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! 52 Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” 53 When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, 54 for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees both had their own Scribes who, as doctors of the Law (lawyers), were well-versed in interpreting the Law. They were indignant that Jesus insulted them by saying that their ancestors killed the prophets and that they built tombs in memory of the prophets thereby consenting to their ancestors' actions. The prophets were killed because they delivered divine revelations and warnings to the Israelites that went against the then-current societal or religious practices. The prophets held the religious and political authorities accountable for shedding innocent blood because they were not obedient to God’s will and commandments and warned them to repent and return to God.
The Pharisees were continuing the same pattern by rejecting and persecuting Jesus in their own time. The current generation would pay the price for the blood of all prophets. The religious leaders possessed the key to knowledge, but their hardness of heart stopped them from using it for their salvation or the salvation of others. The scribes and Pharisees began planning the same fate for Jesus as their ancestors handed the prophets.
Almighty God, grant us the grace to imitate the attitude of Christ and to follow your commandments. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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