Jesus Knows Irony



Matthew 23:29-36
29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
34Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
36Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Every kids says it to their parents while they’re growing up; “When I’m a parent, I’m never going to treat my kids the way you’re treating me.” Of course years later it is exactly what they do as parents. Going in the other direction, we are probably all guilty of looking back in time and declaring that we would not have committed the same sins as our ancestors. We are certain we wouldn’t have made the same bad choices or decisions. Apparently the Pharisees were fairly open about their disapproval of the actions of the people who came before them because they were guilty of killing the prophets of God. Certainly they would not have made the same choices. Yet here is Jesus standing before them; the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; The Prophet and they plot His death. When this discourse happens between Jesus and the Pharisees He is less than a week from being killed by them. At this point in the story the Pharisees are actively planning Jesus death and they succeed by the end of the week. His blood is shed just like that of the prophets whose stories are told in the Old Testament.

We must be careful whenever we state that we would never behave like those who went before us. We must even be careful of castigating these Pharisees too much because we to can be guilty of following our own way rather than the way of God. We too can become mired in our own traditions so deeply that we do not see God’s movement in another direction. “I would never” is a dangerous phrase to utter. Being satisfied with our own understandings is a troubling place to live. As I’m thinking through this passage another comes to mind.

Proverbs 3:5-7
5Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
7Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

The Lord always has a better way that far exceeds my understandings. It doesn’t make sense that a Man would have to die for me, but that was God’s plan. Instead of claiming I would never do something that those before have done is foolish. Maybe instead I’ll just keep my mouth shut and follow the path that God sets before me.

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