Lk 11:47-54
[Jesus said,] 47“Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. 49Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! 52Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” 53When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, 54for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
BLOOD OF ABEL: Ancient peoples believe that life is in the blood, and life belongs to God. The shedding of blood cries out from the ground that receives it for God’s punishment on the perpetrator (Gn 4:10).
In the Gospel, Jesus harshly criticizes the scribes and the Pharisees for acting like their ancestors who killed the prophets. They will be charged with the blood of Abel up to the blood of Zechariah. The killing of Abel by Cain (Gn 4:8) is the first murder narrated in Scriptures. “Zechariah” may be the priest, the son of Jehoiada, who was stoned “in the court of the house of the Lord,” during the reign of King Joash (2 Chr 24:20-22). If the books of Chronicles stood last in the Jewish canon at that time, then the reference is to the last murder of a prophetic figure presented by Scriptures.
Jesus holds the scholars of the Law, as well as their ancestors, responsible for the murder of the prophets. It is strange that Abel is mentioned since he is not a prophet. His inclusion in the saying implies a broad use of the term and also reflects Luke’s general view of the Old Testament as some sort of prophecy. The present generation is held responsible for the death of the prophets because of its continued rejection of God’s message spoken through contemporary prophetic figures like John the Baptist and Jesus.