Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 23:29

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous," — Matthew 23:29 (ASV)

By erecting monuments the religious leaders thought themselves morally and spiritually above their forebears who had persecuted the prophets whose monuments they were building. They believed that they would not have joined their ancestors in murdering the prophets—just as many Christians today naively think they would have responded better to Jesus than the disciples or than the crowds that cried, “Crucify him!” These contemporary “whitewashed tombs,” on the Mount of Olives, overlook the city of Jerusalem.