What is the meaning of Luke 11:50? As a result Jesus has just condemned the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who honor slain prophets outwardly while rejecting God’s present word (Luke 11:47-49). Because of that hypocrisy, He now draws a solemn conclusion. • The phrase ties back to the divine wisdom saying, “I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute” (Luke 11:49). • Similar language appears in Matthew 23:31-32, where Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees they “testify against yourselves” by adorning the tombs of the righteous yet carrying on their ancestors’ violence. • The connection reminds us that God’s judgments are never arbitrary; they flow from real, ongoing rebellion. This generation will be charged The Lord singles out the people standing before Him—especially their spiritual leaders—for special accountability. • “This generation” mirrors phrases in Luke 7:31; 9:41; 17:25, marking those alive during Jesus’ earthly ministry who refuse to repent. • Responsibility is individual (Ezekiel 18:20) but also corporate when a community persists in shared sin (Jonah 3:6-10; Acts 2:40). • In Matthew 24:34, Jesus again speaks of “this generation,” underscoring that His prophetic warnings would begin to unfold within their lifetime (fulfilled in part in the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem). With the blood of all the prophets God treats violence against His messengers as violence against Himself (1 Samuel 8:7). Now the accumulated guilt is coming due. • Hebrews 11:37-38 catalogs past prophets “stoned… sawn in two… killed by the sword.” • Revelation 18:24 portrays Babylon—symbolizing the world’s rebellious system—“drunk with the blood of prophets.” • By rejecting Jesus, the ultimate Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22-23), the leaders would finalize their participation in every previous murder of God’s servants. That has been shed The wording stresses actual, physical bloodshed—literal executions carried out through history. • Stephen echoes this accusation: “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” (Acts 7:52). • From Zechariah son of Jehoiada stoned in the temple court (2 Chronicles 24:21) to Jeremiah thrown into a cistern (Jeremiah 38:6), the Old Testament records a trail of martyrdom. • Jesus is declaring that such violence cannot remain unresolved; divine justice will answer every drop. Since the foundation of the world The scope of the indictment stretches from the very first murder forward. • Jesus immediately adds, “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah” (Luke 11:51), bookending the Hebrew canon (Genesis 4:8; 2 Chronicles 24:21). • Abel’s righteous offering cost him his life, and his blood “cries out” to God (Genesis 4:10; Hebrews 12:24). • By including “since the foundation of the world,” Jesus affirms God’s omniscient record-keeping: no injustice escapes His notice (Psalm 94:7-10; Romans 12:19). summary Luke 11:50 teaches that God holds every generation responsible for how it responds to His revealed truth. Because the leaders of Jesus’ day persisted in the same murderous unbelief as their forefathers—and were about to crucify God’s own Son—the full weight of prophetic bloodshed was coming upon them. The verse underscores three realities: God’s judgments are just, sin’s consequences are cumulative when unrepented, and rejecting Christ places a person squarely on the wrong side of all salvation history. |
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