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).