Matthew 23:35 means that Jesus holds the religious leaders of his day responsible for the whole history of innocent bloodshed, from the first righteous martyr in Genesis to the last one named in the Hebrew Bible. The verse is a warning of judgment, not a promise of comfort, and it is spoken by Jesus himself to the scribes and Pharisees in the temple courts of Jerusalem during the final week before his crucifixion. Its tone is severe, and its purpose is to expose what the leaders were doing to God’s messengers.
That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
Matthew 23:35 (WEB)
What Matthew 23:35 Means
The phrase “that on you may come all the righteous blood” uses a word picture of blood falling like a debt due. Jesus is saying that the accumulated guilt for killing God’s prophets and righteous people will land on the generation standing in front of him. The verse does not say the leaders personally shed Abel’s blood. It says they belong to a long line of people who rejected God’s messengers, and that the account will be settled with them.
The two named figures mark the boundaries of that history. Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, is the first murder victim in the Bible, recorded in Genesis 4. Zechariah son of Barachiah is probably the prophet of the same name in the Hebrew Bible, the last book in the Jewish canon arranged in the order Jesus’ audience would have known, who was killed in the temple courtyard, as 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 describes. Together they stand for everyone in between who was faithful and was silenced.
The verse does not promise that every hard situation is a sign of divine judgment, and it does not give anyone permission to pronounce curses on others. It is a specific word to a specific group about their own refusal to hear God’s messengers. Reading it as a general statement about any believer’s suffering stretches it beyond what it says.
The Context of Matthew 23:35
Matthew 23 is a long speech of sharp words against the scribes and Pharisees, given after Jesus’ final public teaching in the temple. The book of Matthew was written to a community that knew the Jewish scriptures well and wanted to show Jesus as the promised teacher and king. Verses 34 to 36 explain that the leaders will persecute the messengers Jesus sends, and verse 35 links that coming persecution to the whole past. Verse 36 then says these things will fall on “this generation.”
The verses that follow move from accusation to grief. In verse 37 Jesus laments over Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets, and speaks of wanting to gather its children like a hen gathers her chicks. Seeing verse 35 inside that lament shows that the judgment is not Jesus’ final word. It is the sorrow of someone who has tried again and again to gather people back to God and has been refused.
Key Phrases in Matthew 23:35
Luke 11:50-51
50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
(WEB)
Luke records a parallel saying in which Jesus again speaks of the blood of all the prophets being required of this generation, and he names the same range from Abel to Zechariah. Reading it alongside Matthew shows that the warning is part of Jesus’ teaching and was remembered in more than one Gospel.
Hebrews 11:4
By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.
(WEB)
Hebrews 11 describes Abel as a man of faith whose offering was accepted, even though he was killed. This verse helps readers see Abel as more than a victim, since the author of Hebrews honors him as a model of trust in God. That picture deepens the meaning of Jesus’ reference to his blood in Matthew.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 23:35
Lord, you have always sent people to call us back to you, and some of them have been treated badly for doing it. Help me listen when the truth is spoken to me, even when it is uncomfortable or comes from someone I would rather not hear. Keep me from silencing the voices that point me toward your way. Give me courage to be honest with myself and humility to change where I need to. Amen.
