Still the Same
Matthew 23:29-31 “Woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for
the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we
had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with
them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against
yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!”
I sometimes hear people who are in their late teens and 20’s
make a comment something like this: “We’re not like our parents and the older
generations. We are going to do things right and make this world a better
place.” Yeah, right.
I remember my
generation saying that in the 60’s. We did a great job changing the culture:
legalized abortion, increased divorce, increased domestic abuse…decreased
churches. The next generations have come, and the sin issues cause one
generation after another to be the same.
Jesus’ eighth and
final “woe” expresses his grief against the sins of the fathers going from generation
to generation. He condemns the self-righteous Pharisees for saying they would
not kill God’s prophets as their ancestors had. But Jesus certainly knows that
if these men had lived in the days of their forefathers their sins would have
been the same.
Yes, they are the
same. They’re about to kill Jesus. Just as He told Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (John 13:27), he told the Pharisees, “Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!” In
other words, “Do what you will and be done with it.” He knows what must be done
must be done to bring true change to the world.
LIFE Link: Be a new generation in Jesus.
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