Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 23:39

"For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord." — Matthew 23:39 (ASV)

Ye shall not see me, etc. The day of your mercy has passed. I have offered you protection and salvation, and you have rejected it. You are about to crucify me, and your temple will be destroyed; and you, as a nation, will be given up to long and dreadful suffering. You will not see me as a merciful Savior, offering you redemption any more, until you have borne these heavy judgments.

They must come upon you, and be borne, until you would be glad to hail a deliverer and say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed is he that comes as the Messiah, to bring deliverance.

This has not yet been accomplished; but the days will come when the Jews, long cast out and rejected, will hail Jesus as the Messiah and receive him whom their fathers killed, as the merciful Savior (Romans 11:25–32).

REMARKS ON MATTHEW CHAPTER 23

1. Proper respect should always be shown to teachers and rulers (Matthew 23:3).
2. We are not to copy the example of wicked men (Matthew 23:3). We are to frame our conduct by the law of God, and not by the example of men.
3. Men are often very rigid in exacting from others what they themselves fail altogether to perform (Matthew 23:4).
4. We are to obey God rather than man; not to seek human honors (Matthew 23:8), nor to give flattering titles to others, nor to allow others to give them to us (Matthew 28:9). Our highest honor is in humility; and he is most exalted who is most lowly (Matthew 23:11–12).
5. In the descriptions of the Scribes and Pharisees in this chapter, we have a full-length portrait of the hypocrite.
   1. They shut up the kingdom of heaven against others (Matthew 23:13). They made great pretensions to knowledge, but they neither entered in themselves nor suffered others.
   2. They committed the grossest iniquity under a cloak of religion (Matthew 23:14). They cheated widows out of their property and made long prayers to hide their villainy.
   3. They showed great zeal in making proselytes, yet did it only for gain and made them more wicked (Matthew 23:15).
   4. They taught false doctrine—artful contrivances to destroy the force of oaths and shut out the Creator from their view (Matthew 23:16–22).
   5. They were superstitious (Matthew 23:23). They were exact in small matters, but cared little about matters of real importance.
   6. They were openly hypocritical. They took great pains to appear well, while they themselves knew that it was all deceit and falsehood (Matthew 23:25–28).
   7. They professed great veneration for the memory of the pious dead, while at the same time they were conscious that they really approved the conduct of those who killed them (Matthew 23:29–31).

   Never, perhaps, was there a combination of more wicked feelings and hypocritical actions than among them; and never was there more profound knowledge of the human heart, and more faithfulness, than in him who tore off the mask and showed them what they were.

6. It is amazing with what power and authority our blessed Lord reproves this wicked people. It is wonderful that they ever waited for a mock trial and did not kill him at once. But his time had not come; and they were restrained and not allowed to act out the fury of their mad passions.
7. Jesus pities dying sinners (Matthew 23:37). He seeks their salvation. He pleads with them to be saved. He would gather them to him, if they would come. The most hardened, even like the sinners of Jerusalem, he would save if they would come to him. But they do not; they turn from him and tread the road to death.
8. The reason why the wicked are not saved is their obstinacy. They choose not to be saved, and they die. If they will not come to Christ, it is right that they should die. If they do not come, they must die.
9. The sinner shall be destroyed (Matthew 23:38). The day will come when the mercy of God will be completely gone forever, and the forbearance of God exhausted; and then the sinner must perish. Once God has given him over, he must die. No man, no parent, minister, or friend, no angel or archangel, can then save. Salvation is lost, forever lost. Oh, how amazing is the folly of the wicked, that they weary out the forbearance of God and perish in their sins!