Matthew 23:30, commentary and pictures

The leaders declared they would have taken no part with their fathers in shedding the blood of the prophets, even while they built and adorned the tombs and monuments of those prophets in Christ's final temple teaching against the scribes and Pharisees.

The claim was empty, for they were plotting to kill the Son of God and would crucify Him, and by that murderous spirit they proved themselves the children of those who killed the prophets.

The blood of the righteous from Abel to Zechariah would therefore be charged upon that generation, not by inheritance alone but because they continued the same hatred and persecution.

Honoring dead messengers does not excuse rejecting present truth, for turning from clearer light about Christ brings greater guilt and judgment, as shown when He foretold they would kill and scourge the prophets and wise men He would send.

The same condemnation falls on all in later ages who praise past prophets while persecuting living messengers, nourishing the spirit that fills up the deeds of those Christ rebuked.

Words and Setting

The saying records the leaders declaring that had they lived in the time of their fathers they would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets, while at the same time they were building, honoring and decorating the tombs and monuments of the prophets. That honoring did not mean heeding the prophets' teachings and warnings, for their professions of respect were hypocritical and their actions revealed the same murderous spirit. By rejecting and persecuting God's messengers, opposing Jesus and planning to destroy Him and to kill Him, they showed themselves to be the children of the prophet-killers and shared their guilt, so the claim stood self-condemned and did not prove they would have acted differently in the past.

The saying belongs to Christ's final teaching in the temple on His last day there, when He exposed the true character of the religious leaders, rulers and elders and warned of the consequences of persisting in evil. His words in the temple courts exposed and condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and lawyers, whose conduct revealed the same spirit as their ancestors despite their claim not to share their guilt. That exposure was also instruction for those seeking truth, intended for people in every age and nation.

The saying is part of the woes and stern denunciation of the scribes, Pharisees, lawyers and hypocrites, and of His warning against blind religious leaders. In it He exposed abominations in the church and refused to let people be deceived by false claims of righteousness and holiness. He spoke fearlessly with the authority of true greatness, and His searching denunciations showed no irritated temper, proving that correction can be keen and firm without unkindness. His anger at such grave sin was righteous indignation, consistent with perfect love and mercy. That warning was recorded for later generations because the abuse of religious authority and its harm to the conscience would continue beyond the dispersion of the Jews.

The chapter to which the saying belongs describes people blinded to the relative importance of what God requires and of what they should understand. That spiritual blindness leads to neglecting the law's weightier matters and weightier duties while attending to minor and lesser matters.

Hypocrisy Exposed

Building tombs and decorating monuments for the prophets was not heeding them, for the speakers rejected what the prophets taught and warned while refusing obedience to the truth and light brought by God's Son. Their hearts were full of deceit and iniquity even while they claimed outward honor for past messengers. That outward honor therefore left them still in their fathers' rejection of God's messengers, and did not excuse rejecting present truth.

The boast that they would not have shared in the prophets' blood was hollow because they were plotting to kill the Son of God. They were preparing to reject and crucify Christ rather than obey His teachings, and would have shed His blood already if they had not feared the people. Their own actions thus exposed the same guilt and spirit as their fathers who killed the prophets.

By that very claim they became witnesses against themselves that they were the children and descendants of those who killed the prophets. Their conduct, evil fruit, and murderous spirit showed they shared the character and guilt of their fathers. Honoring the tombs while rejecting and persecuting God's messengers proved the ancestry they disowned.

People readily condemn past wrongdoing yet repeat it when faithfulness requires self-denial, humility, and sacrifice. By stifling and suppressing conviction they come to share the guilt of those who rejected Christ. Claiming they would have welcomed Christ therefore does not prove they would have acted differently in the past.

In Christ's day the Jews lamented their humiliation under Rome while condemning their fathers for stoning prophets sent to correct Israel and denounce the sins of those in authority. Those prophets had been slain through the instigation of the leaders in Israel, and priests and elders still cherished in their hearts the spirit that would lead to the same crimes. Israel's captivity to a heathen nation had been punishment for refusing reproof, slighting warnings, and holding fast to sins. The priests had become wicked and used lawful authority for unlawful ends, and while honoring the slain prophets with monuments they paid deference to great men of the world and thereby honored Satan's servants. Some defended rejecting Christ by appealing to their fathers' accepted sacrificial offerings, as though following the same religious course ensured salvation.

Guilt and Judgment

The blood of the righteous from Abel to Zechariah would be charged against that generation, for their own words showed them to be descendants of those who killed the prophets and they continued that pattern by persecuting the messengers Christ would send. Jerusalem was the murderer of the prophets, and it rejected and slew the Son of God, so the threatenings of divine wrath hung over it. Judgments fell upon the ruling Pharisees for rejecting reproof, for Christ's appeals, warnings, messages and reproof had no effect upon their hearts and they continued to walk in the same exacting and intolerant spirit. Rejecting present mercy and warning could not be atoned for by sacrifices without true repentance and obedience.

Guilt was not simply inherited, but that generation became accountable by continuing hatred, persecution, evil practices and the same path. Claiming one would not have joined the ancestors who killed the prophets does not excuse rejecting God's present warnings and mercies. Professing not to share the ancestors' guilt does not excuse a people who follow the same path, whose neglect of light and rejection of God's warnings leave them under condemnation.

Honoring past messengers does not excuse rejecting present truth, for the outward honoring of the prophets was contradicted by deceit and iniquity in the heart and by refusal to receive the light brought by Christ. Rejecting greater light brings responsibility and divine judgment. The light about Christ is clearer now, and rejecting His fulfilled prophetic witness while refusing His precepts repeats the guilt the Pharisees disowned, for they honored the martyrs while rejecting the truth those prophets taught and were preparing to reject and crucify Christ. Those who neglect the light given to them are left in darkness in a worse position than the Jews whom Christ rebuked, whose neglect of light and unfaithfulness brought them under judgment.

Jesus answered the boast by predicting He would send prophets and wise men and scribes, and some they would kill and crucify and scourge in synagogues and persecute from city to city. That prediction was literally fulfilled in the Jews' treatment of Him and of the messengers God sent, revealing the same hostility and murderous spirit behind the claim of innocence.

Religious profession used to cover wrongdoing brings heavier retribution than open sin, and Christ's denunciation of hypocrites is more severe than His response to open sinners. There is more hope for an open sinner than for a pretender practicing sin under a cloak of godliness, and more hope for one who claims godliness while practicing iniquity to be passed by than for such covering to escape judgment. The vain pretense Christ hates and heavily denounces is the profession of those who claim light far in advance of others while their works do not correspond with their profession, who feel secure because they profess truth while they do not feel its sanctifying influence on their hearts and do not advance in the divine life. Those with great light who fail to improve it are in a less favorable position for the perfection of Christian character than those who spent life in sin in the darkness of error but gladly accept truth when opened to their understanding and come to God in penitence with a sense of sinfulness and are accepted, for Christ treats with tenderness the penitent even though they had been publicans and harlots and the chief of sinners. Those who cherish sin and neglect to improve light and opportunities are left in darkness and cannot rightly judge God's dealings with sinners or dismiss His judgments as cruel, for people can condemn the sins of earlier generations while failing to recognize their own guilt.

Warning for Later Generations

Christ's denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees was recorded as an admonition for future generations, because the abuse of religious authority and the harm it does to the conscience would continue in the church beyond the dispersion of the Jews. It warns against following blind religious leaders and exposes the danger of leaders who reject clear truth while claiming authority to rule the conscience. The woes spoken then apply still to all who act in the same exacting and intolerant spirit unless they repent and are converted. Christ's appeals, warnings, messages and reproof had no effect on the ruling Pharisees, who continued to walk in the same path and manifested the same spirit until judgments fell upon them for rejecting reproof. Those connected with the management of God's work who cherish the same principles, reject reproof and walk in the same path will face the same judgments, and unless converted will be separated from the work.

The rebuke falls on priests, rulers and all in positions of sacred trust and responsibility who suppose they are doing God's service while misrepresenting Christ's righteousness, remaining impenitent and opposing truth and righteousness. It means overbearing and imperious men whose spiritual eyesight is dimmed, who neglect God's great work and fail to reveal justice, mercy and the love of God. They are scrupulous about little matters and make a man an offender for a word, yet deal unjustly with God's heritage, tamper with conscience, excuse serious wrongs by subtle reasoning and imaginary distinctions in guilt, and condemn in others faults far smaller than their own cherishing of false principles. They continue a proud, self-exalting spirit with desire to rule others, become angry when their authority is questioned, and stir people to revile and persecute those proclaiming God's warning. Failing to know God while thinking persecution is service to Him, and forgetting their Creator while trusting in their own superiority, they kill the One who alone could give them life. For righteousness exalts a nation and individuals, and sin brings them to ruin, so the woes that fell on the Pharisees will verily fall on all engaged in a like work unless they repent.

Praising the prophets of the past while persecuting living messengers repeats the same hypocrisy, as was seen in despising and hating William Miller though his preaching brought conversions, reclaimed backsliders and led many to study Scripture. The self-justifying boast of appearing outwardly righteous while inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity witnesses against its makers that they are the children of those who killed the prophets. Christ answered that boast by predicting He would send prophets and wise men and scribes, and some they would kill and crucify and scourge in synagogues and persecute from city to city, which was literally fulfilled in their treatment of Him and of the messengers God sent. That boast and its fulfillment stand as a fearful and decisive warning for the last days, that those nourishing the same spirit shown before and after the Minneapolis meeting will fill up to the full the deeds of those Christ condemned.

Call to Present Faithfulness

Protesting that they would not have joined their fathers in shedding prophetic blood did not clear those who spoke, for their own conduct proved them to share the character of the killers of the prophets. Nourishing the same spirit as those condemned will lead people to repeat their deeds by persecuting the messengers sent by God. Jerusalem's rejection of Christ stands for the rejection of divine love in every age, so those who profess to represent Christ while denying Him by their lives may see their own condemnation in that denunciation. Selfishness with love of wealth and worldly honor moves such professors to turn from His counsel and to despise His mercies.

The same hypocrisy appears when the leaders sought grounds to condemn Jesus while still claiming to condemn wrongdoing. Their charge that He had called them hypocrites and murderers would not have persuaded Romans or Sadducees, even though His words laid bare their guilt and repeated the accusations they leveled against one another. At His trial testimony that He had called them hypocrites and murderers was held back.

Outward claims of righteousness do not excuse a fruitless life, and the warning summons fruitless professors to do their duty and become bearers of fruit. Honoring sacred things by profession does not excuse rejecting divine instruction. Christ denounced the abominations He saw in the church and in the world with burning earnestness and terrible severity, refusing to let people be deceived by false claims to righteousness and holiness. Following that example, missionaries and physicians are to stand in God-given manhood with freedom of speech and freedom of faith. That means refusing to harmonize with a fellow worker's wrong plans, refusing to be cowered into silence by a masterful spirit or to affirm as true what is known to be untrue, and instead protesting and correcting false statements and wrong sentiments rather than remaining speechless under a binding influence.