22 Sep 2015
Matthew 23:34-36
Matthew 23:34: “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.”
Why were they held responsible for the blood of all the martyred prophets? Because all of them testified of the coming Messiah, and Jesus was the fulfillment of what they had to say.
In rejecting Him they rejected what the prophets said, and in doing so they aligned themselves with those who murdered the prophets. Since they refused the prophetic testimony about Jesus, God held them responsible for the murder of those prophets – and the price was high. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and killed more than a million Jews, along with the Temple. All these things did come upon this generation.