Q: In Matthew 23:35, Jesus blames the Jews (who were then loving) for all the righteous blood from Abel to Zecharias. Isnt it manifestly unjust to blame one generation for the sins of previous generations?
A: [Note: theres a typo in the SAB sidebar here. It says Jesus blames his the Jews but the word his should be removed.]
Thats not what Jesus is doing here. The you to which He refers is the leadership of the Jewish people -- past, present, and future. Jesus didnt imagine, or expect his listeners to imagine, that the current generation of scribes and Pharisees had slain Abel and Zechariah. He simply employs hyperbole to convey that they would be categorized in judgment as the Slayers of the Righteous, corporately identified with other slayers of the righteous, and that the Jewish leaders as a whole would face the cumulative consequences of the corporate actions of earlier slayers-of-the-righteous. When Jesus says that as a result of the martyrdom of prophets, wise men, and scribes, on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, the idea isnt that the current generation of religious leaders in Jerusalem knocked down all the domino-martyrs of the past; the idea is that they perpetuate the domino-line collapse into their own era.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: [Note: theres a typo in the SAB sidebar here. It says Jesus blames his the Jews but the word his should be removed.]
Thats not what Jesus is doing here. The you to which He refers is the leadership of the Jewish people -- past, present, and future. Jesus didnt imagine, or expect his listeners to imagine, that the current generation of scribes and Pharisees had slain Abel and Zechariah. He simply employs hyperbole to convey that they would be categorized in judgment as the Slayers of the Righteous, corporately identified with other slayers of the righteous, and that the Jewish leaders as a whole would face the cumulative consequences of the corporate actions of earlier slayers-of-the-righteous. When Jesus says that as a result of the martyrdom of prophets, wise men, and scribes, on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, the idea isnt that the current generation of religious leaders in Jerusalem knocked down all the domino-martyrs of the past; the idea is that they perpetuate the domino-line collapse into their own era.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
