Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 23:34-36

"Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." — Matthew 23:34-36 (ASV)

Our great King knew that His earthly life was soon to end. He was, in fact, about to utter His final farewell to the people gathered in the temple. But before leaving them, He delivered a royal and prophetic message, Behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. None but the King of kings could speak in this way without blasphemy. These “prophets, and wise men, and scribes” would be Christ’s ascension gifts to the Church and the world. He foretold what kind of reception His servants would have from the Jews, And some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. All this was literally fulfilled.

The object of the King in sending His last representatives was that the guilty city should be left forever without excuse when its measure of iniquity should be full and its awful doom be sealed. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. The destruction of Jerusalem was more terrible than anything that the world has ever witnessed, either before or since. Even Titus seemed to see in his cruel work the hand of an avenging God. Truly, the blood of the martyrs slain in Jerusalem was amply avenged when the whole city became a veritable Aceldama or field of blood.

The Kingly Prophet foretold the time of the end, Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. It was before that generation had passed away that Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed. There was a sufficient interval for the full proclamation of the Gospel by the apostles and evangelists of the early Christian Church and for the gathering out of those who recognized the crucified Christ as their true Messiah. Then came the awful end, which the Savior foresaw and foretold, and the prospect of which wrung from His lips and heart the sorrowful lament that followed His prophecy of the doom awaiting His guilty capital.