31“So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 34 Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”
Unleashing His final diatribe, Jesus pulled out all the stops in His stinging judgment against the scribes and Pharisees. They had incriminated their ancestors who murdered the prophets; they were about to follow suit. Judgment will be severe (see Heb 2:2-3). Jesus called them serpents and vipers, recalling John the Baptist’s fateful denunciation from three years earlier (Matt 3:7).
Despite all their rejection, God will not stop sending His messengers. First it would be the apostles, then those who believed through them. The religious leaders of the Jews would continue to show their colors, persecuting those sent with the message of warning, even killing them, just as they were about to do to Jesus. Ultimately their rebellion in killing Christ and His followers would bring the weight of judgment deserved by all who killed the prophets before them. The principle is true that hypocrites take on themselves the judgments they heap on others! It is no more true than for those who kill the Messiah, the Son sent by God the Father. The parable of the vineyard owner would be fulfilled.
Is this judgment on the scribes and Pharisees final? No, I don’t think so. The judgment of Nineveh bears a remarkable resemblance here. The message Jonah finally, though reluctantly, preached sounded just as definitive. But when the Ninevites repented, “…God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10). So, the definitive message of Jesus should have struck fear in the hearts the Pharisees, with the goal of bringing repentance. The message of warning is ultimately a gracious message. For Jonah finally had to admit, “I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity” (Jonah 4:2).
Lord, help me see that for some people, the most gracious thing I can do is to warn them of judgment.
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