tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post3543528683094931283..comments2023-08-09T07:48:53.962-04:00Comments on Bear Witness to the Light: The LORD Has Made Known His Salvation.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-79390474517033331022010-10-14T04:19:08.632-04:002010-10-14T04:19:08.632-04:00'Woe to you who build the memorials of the pro...'Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed.'<br /><br />The Pharisees might have been involved in building memorials for pilgrims to visit, but building memorials could also refer to the fact that they taught the people to remember the Prophets. History is written by the victors. It is the misfortune of the Pharisees at the time of Jesus to be teaching about the Prophets in the same tradition as their forefathers who killed those Prophets, or at least were incapable/unwilling to hear them. Even if they didn't actually participate in murder, 'killing' a Prophet's words (silencing or glossing over their prophecies) amounts essentially to killing the Prophet.<br /><br />'Woe to you, scholars of the law!<br />You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.'<br /><br />The prophecies regarding Christ in the Old Testament are very plainly fulfilled by Jesus but those Pharisees who follow in the footsteps of their forefathers cannot/will not proclaim this fact and even try to prevent the people from proclaiming it spontaneously.<br /><br />'Yes, I tell you, this generation <br />will be charged with their blood!'<br /><br />Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets - so His blood, shed by 'this generation', is the fulfillment of the Prophets' blood from Abel to Zechariah. The life-blood shed by the Prophets could also be seen as God's living word in their prophecies - after all, that is the life that people really wanted to extinguish. The Prophets died for what they said. <br /><br />Our Lord's words sound harsh here, but I think it might be important that He says 'charged with', not 'condemned for'. The Pharisees have a burden of responsibility for the continuing life and memorial of the Prophets. The time has now come when they will be held to account for how they discharge that duty. But for those whose hearts are open to conversion, Christ's blood brings mercy, redemption and reconciliation, not condemnation:<br /><br />'In Christ we have redemption by his Blood, the forgiveness of transgressions.'Sarah in the tenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14652265020101487633noreply@blogger.com