Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
All Commentaries on Matthew 23:36 Go To Matthew 23
John Chrysostom
AD 407
He had said against the Scribes and Pharisees, that they were the children of those who killed the Prophets; now therefore He shows that they were like themin wickedness, and that was false that they said, “If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets.”Wherefore He now says, “Fill ye up the measure of your fathers.” This is not a command, but a prophecy of what is tobe.
He foretels, that as their fathers killed the Prophets, so they also should kill Christ, and the Apostles, and other holy men. As suppose you had a quarrel with some one, you might say to your adversary, Do to me what you are about todo; but you do not therein bid him do it, but show him that you are aware of his manoeuvres. And in fact they went beyond the measure of their fathers; for they put to death only men, these crucified God. But because He stooped to death of His own free choice, He does not lay on them the sin of His death, but only the death of the Apostles and other holy men. Whence also He said, “Fill up,” and not "Fill over;” for a just and merciful Judge overlooks his own wrongs, and only punishes those done to others.
He calls them “offspring of vipers,” because the nature of vipers is such that the young burst the womb of their dam, and so come forth; and in like manner the Jews condemned their fathers, finding fault with their deeds. He says, “How shall ye escape the damnationof hell?” By building the tombs of the saints? But the first step of piety isto love holiness, the next, to love the saints; for it is not reasonable in him to honour the righteous, who despises righteousness. The saints cannot befriends to those to whom God is an enemy. Shall ye be saved by a mere name, because ye seem to be among God’s people! Forasmuch as an open enemy is better than a false friend, so is he more hateful to God, who calls himself the servant of God, and does the commands of the Devil. Indeed, before God he who has resolved to killa worm is a murderer before the deed is done, for it is the will that is rewarded for good, or punished for evil. Deeds are evidence of the will. God then does not require deeds on His own account that He may know how to judge, but for the sake of other men, that they may perceive that God is righteous. And God affords the opportunity of sin to the wicked, not to make them sin, but to manifest the sinner; and also to the good He gives opportunity to show the purpose of their will. In this way then He gave the Scribes and Pharisees opportunity of shewing their purposes, "Behold, I send unto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes.”.
Then to show them that they should not do this without punishment, He holds outan unspeakable terror over them, “That upon you may come all the righteous blood.”.
Moreover, He names Abel, to show that it would be out of envy that they would kill Christ and His disciples. He names Zacharias, because there was a twofold resemblance in his case, the sacred place, as well as the sacred person.
Otherwise; Because He delayed the punishment of hell which He bad threatened them with, He pronounces against them threats of present evil, saying, “All these things shall come upon this generation.”.
As all the good things which had been merited by all the saints in each generation since the foundation of the world were bestowed upon that last generation which received Christ; so all the evil that all the wicked in every generation from the foundation of the world had deserved to suffer, came upon that last generation of the Jews which rejected Christ. Or thus; As all the righteous of former saints, yea, of all the saints, could not merit that so great grace as was given to men in Christ; so the sins of all the wicked could not deserve so much evil as came upon the Jews, that they should suffer such things as these suffered from the Romans, and that in after time every generation of them to the end of the world should be cast off from God, and be made a mock by all theGentiles.For what is there worse than to reject and in such sort to put to death the Son coming in mercy and lowliness!.
For he who having seen many sinning yet remains uncorrected, but rather does the same or worse, is obnoxious to heavier punishment.
