35 so that
upon you will 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. 37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets
and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to
gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks
under her wings, and you were unwilling. In Matthew
23:35–37, Jesus says: "upon you will fall the guilt of
all the righteous blood..." "all these things will come upon
this generation" "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills
the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her..." Jerusalem was the immediate audience
and the historical city responsible for killing God's messengers.
From Abel to Zechariah, the bloodshed was tied to the covenant
people, culminating in first-century Jerusalem's guilt. If this referred to a distant future,
the text would not make sense. Jesus was condemning them, not people
2,000 years later. He was warning of judgment for their crimes,
fulfilled in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple. They weren't just symbolic of
rebellion, they were the actual murderers of the prophets.
By Dan Maines
Matthew 23:35-37
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