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Matthew 23:34-37
Luke 11:51
How could Christ righteously declare that all the righteous blood shed upon
the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of
Barachias, come upon that generation?
Wasn’t the blood of Abel already paid for by Cain?
Didn’t the Babylonian captivity pay for the sin of Israel’s rebellion?
Sin is never paid for by any judgment upon men. Sin is only paid for and
eradicated (done away with) with the pure blood of Jesus Christ.
Luke 11:52 – The Pharisees, by their actions, caused many to not hear
the precious word of God, as they took away the key of knowledge.
The unbelief of Cain is exactly the same unbelief of the Pharisees.
The unbelief of any sinner is exactly the same unbelief of any
unbeliever.
Jerusalem is the seat of worship, but they so turned against
righteousness that the prophets of God will be killed in Jerusalem. Luke
13:33 – Nevertheless I must walk today, and to morrow, and the day
following: for it cannot be that prophet perish out of Jerusalem. (See
the context of this passage)
The work of God was very plain in Jerusalem (Acts 2), and there was great
persecution in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). Acts 9:2 – Christians were brought to
Jerusalem to be tried by the Jews.
God did not hold them guilty for what their fathers did; but temporal
judgments descend on children in consequence of the wickedness of parents—as
in the case of drunken and profligate parents. A drunken father wastes the
property that his children might have possessed. A gambler reduces his
children to poverty and want. An imprudent and foolish parent is the
occasion of leading his sons into places of poverty, ignorance, and crime,
materially affecting their character and destiny. (Barnes)
God does not think like we think – Isaiah 55:8 -
All the righteous blood shed upon the entire earth, not just the righteous
blood shed in Israel, or any other particular nation.
Christ knew beforehand that his servants should be ill treated, but sent them
anyway, and brought glory to himself because of their righteous actions.
Also the servants of Christ received great rewards for their obedience.
Cruelty of some religious folks – These servants shall be killed and
crucified because of religious differences, which thing should never be.
Unbridled industry – The unrighteous will persecute the righteous from
city to city.
The pretence of religion – They scourged them in their places of
worship.
Isaiah 66:5 – Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his
word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake,
said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they
shall be ashamed.
John 16:2 – They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
The blood of the martyrs is very precious to God - Psalms 72:14 He shall
redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be
in his sight.
Slew between the temple and the altar, a very sacred place where only the
priest was supposed to go. Some people went where they were not
supposed to go to fulfill their desires upon God’s men.
Genesis 4:10 – the blood of righteous Abel cried unto God from out of the
ground.
Who is Zacharias, the son of Barachias?
Josephus declares there is a Zacharias, the son of Baruch, who was
slain in the temple when Titus captured Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The name
Baruch is not the same as Barachias. The Zacharias mentioned by Christ had
already been killed, not prophesied that he would be killed.
Some believe it is Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. The story
goes like this: There was a place in the temple called the place of the
virgins, where virgins congregated. Mary, the mother of Jesus went there
and joined herself to the other virgins. The Pharisees told her to leave,
but Zacharias confronted them, because he understood the conception of
Christ, and believed Mary to be a perpetual virgin (which is certainly
nonsense), where he was killed. This story is completely false.
Zechariah 1:1 – In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius,
came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of
Iddo the prophet, saying, – This Zachariah is the son of Berechiah.
II Chronicles 24:20 - And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the
son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto
them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that
ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also
forsaken you. 21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with
stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the
LORD. 22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada
his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said,
The LORD look upon it, and require it.
It is remarkable that nothing is recorded as having been done to those
men that killed Zechariah. But God remembered.
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