Judgment and Mercy
J.A. Macdonald Matthew 23:29-39 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you build the tombs of the prophets… We come now to the eighth and last of this series of woes denounced by Christ against the wicked, which stands in striking contrast to the eighth and last of the Beatitudes (cf. Matthew 5:10-12). Note - I. THAT INSTEAD OF THE FATHERS COME UP THE CHILDREN OF THE WICKED. 1. The fathers of the wicked were the persecutors of the good. (1) The older Pharisees were guilty of the blood of the more ancient prophets. Rulers, civil and ecclesiastical alike, were persecutors. Note: (a) Rulers are generally what the people will have them. "Like people. like priest" (cf. Isaiah 24:2; Jeremiah 5:30, 31; Hosea 4:9). (b) So contrariwise, people are demoralized by their rulers. (2) They slew the righteous because of their righteousness. So it was in the case of Abel (cf. 1 John 3:12). And for having reproved the iniquity of the people, Zechariah was slain by order of King Joash (see 2 Chronicles 24:20, 21). 2. The children of wickedness confess while they denounce their fathers. (1) By building the tombs of the prophets, and garnishing the sepulchres of the righteous, the Pharisees disavowed the deeds of their fathers who had persecuted them. But this was precisely what their fathers did with the tombs of the prophets whom the grandfathers had slain. Note: It is a sign of a hypocrite to profess veneration for all good men excepting those among whom he lives. (2) The cases of Abel and Zechariah are cited as belonging to a series destined to be continued. By sending his prophets and scribes, apostles and evangelists (cf. Matthew 13:52; Luke 11:49), Jesus gave these hypocrites the opportunity to prove themselves by the very deeds they professed to abhor, the children of their wicked fathers. Accordingly, as he predicted, they "killed" the two Jameses; "crucified" Andrew and Peter; "stoned" Stephen and Paul; "scourged" Peter, John, and Paul; and others they "persecuted from city to city" (see Acts 8:1; Acts 9:2). Being the "offspring of vipers," they were "serpents," and, together with their fathers, the brood of the original serpent (cf. Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34; John 8:44). Note: The same providence of God is an opportunity for a man to prove himself a hero or a rascal. (3) "Ye build," etc. Note: Hypocrites incur guilt in matters not wrong in themselves. Building the sepulchres of the righteous is a cheap affectation of righteousness. The dead Pharisee was burying his dead when he honoured the dead messenger and dishonoured the living message. II. THAT THE SINS OF AGES MAY BE VISITED UPON A SINGLE GENERATION. 1. Judgment is provoked by persistent impenitence. (1) There is a measure of iniquity which provokes judgment. As when the "fourth" transgression is added to the third (see Amos 1:3, etc.). (2) Wickedness may be so encouraged as to render repentance and reformation utterly hopeless (see Jeremiah 13:23). (3) Judgment is deferred until the measure of iniquity which provokes it is full (see Genesis 15:16). (4) The measure is full when that point is reached beyond which it is inconsistent with the character of a wise and righteous government, though founded in mercy, to extend impunity. (5) He who commits any sin is partaker with all who have committed the same. So the iniquity of the fathers is visited upon their children. 2. Its severity follows in the wake of mercy. (1) The hen clucking her chickens under her wing when the hawk is overhead is a fine figure to set forth the merciful protection which Jesus would extend to Jerusalem against the Roman eagle, did her children but know the day of their visitation (cf. Psalm 91:4; Malachi 4:2). (2) That sinners are not gathered to Christ is owing wholly to their wickedness (cf. Psalm 81:11, 12). "Fill ye up," etc., is a word of permission, not a command; as if he had. said, "I contend with you no longer: I leave you to yourselves." (3) "The tears of Jesus are the last issues of defeated love, and tell sinners," Thou hast despised my blood that would have saved thee; thou shalt yet have my tears that do only lament thee lost'" (Howe). (4) Punishment equal to the accumulated woes brought upon men for resisting the truth and persecuting its preachers in all past ages, came upon this generation for putting to death One infinitely greater than all the prophets. III. THAT A CHRISTLESS HORSE IS A WOEFUL DESOLATION. 1. So it proved in the days of the fathers. (1) The blood of Zechariah, like that of Abel, cried for vengeance. The last words of Zechariah were, "The Lord see, and require it" (cf. Genesis 4:10; 2 Chronicles 24:22). (2) Vengeance came when "the host of Syria came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people." A people deprived of princely rulers - princely in the moral sense - is in a sorry case. (3) But the temple was not desolated by the Babylonians until after the sins of the people had provoked God to take away the glory of his own blessed presence. 2. So it proved in the days of their children. (1) As the blood of Jehoiada returned upon the head of his murderers in the Babylonian invasion, so did that of Jesus return upon their children in the Roman invasion. (2) As the Babylonians did not demolish the first temple until after the Shechinah had abandoned it, so neither did the Romans destroy the second temple until after Jesus had left it. (3) It is remarkable that, in leaving the temple, he followed the course indicated by the Shechinah (Ezekiel 10.). It stood first upon the threshold. So did Jesus when he uttered his pathetic lamentation. Then it removed to the east of the city to the Mount of Olives. So did Jesus. From the Mount of Olives it ascended into heaven. After the ascension of Jesus came the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel. (4) "Your house." So the temple is now termed - not "God's house" any longer (cf. Exodus 32:7, where God says to Moses, "Thy people"). "Is left unto you" - to the Jews especially - "desolate," since they can no longer seek salvation there. (5) The Jews still carry the curse of Cain the murderer of Abel - the "mark" of the "fugitive and vagabond." 3. The children of wickedness are not exclusively Jewish. (1) For the blood of the martyrs of Jesus shed by the pagan Romans desolation was poured upon Daniel's "desolator" (see Daniel 9:27). The barbarians were the instruments of retribution. (2) The mystical Babylon revived in the papacy is reserved for retribution for the blood of the martyrs which is found in her (see Revelation 6:11; Revelation 17:6; Revelation 18:24; Revelation 19:20). (3) Individual offenders are reserved to the judgment of the last day. "So terrible is God's judgment that when he punishes a sinner he seems to punish all sin in him" (Quesnel). IV. THAT THE LONG SUFFERING OF CHRIST IS SALVATION. 1. The Jews will yet see Christ in his glory. (1) This they have clamoured for. (2) The contrast to his first coming in humiliation will be great. 2. They will all acknowledge him then. (1) Formerly the babes perfected praise when the rulers refused it (see Matthew 21:9). (2) The rulers then will cry, "Hosanna!" The words, "Blessed is he!" are a confession of the Messiahship of Jesus (see Romans 11:26, 27). (3) If they do not say, "Blessed is he!" in penitence then, they will say it by constraint in perdition. - J.A.M. Parallel Verses KJV: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, WEB: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,