send prophets and apostles and this people will kill and persecute some of them. But the present generation will have to answer for the
blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered
between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all. A curse is on you, teachers of the Law,
for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.” As Jesus left that place, the teachers
of the Law and the Pharisees began to harass him, asking him endless questions, setting traps to catch him in something he might say.

Reflection

The experts of whom Jesus rebukes in this
gospel are the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. These
are the religious leaders of the time. To sustain their
importance in the Jewish society, they often made a
great mystery of the meaning of the law. The following of
God is simple and plain, but their profits and privileges
depended upon giving the impression that it was difficult.
Hence they domesticate the law and interpret it for
the people as they please. Not only this, but they also
manufacture reputations out of the shortcomings of
their ancestors. Their fathers murdered the prophets out
of their hard-headedness. Now they (the sons) were busy
building monuments for these murdered prophets pretending
to dissent from their fathers’ action. But Jesus unmasks
their pretense for what it is: worthless hypocrisy. The evil
feeling lingers even until now. By rejecting Jesus and His
teaching, they are not only cutting themselves off from
God but prevent others as well.