In our study of Mark we are in Mark 12:38-40; and the parallel passage in Matt 23; where Jesus is condemning the progressive Jewish leadership because they were teaching evil manmade religion and legalism rather than the grace and truth of God's Word and would kill God's Son Jesus Christ in order to maintain their lie just like their fathers had killed God's prophets.
God permits His people to be murdered because their death becomes the basis for his judgment against satan and His people. Psa 76:10; 2Cor 13:8; Rom 12:19;
When we stopped last time we had noted that no one could touch Jesus until God the Father permitted it. Psa 105:14-15; John 7:19; John 7:30,44-45;
Every believer in Jesus Christ has this same divine protection. No one can touch you or any other person who believes in Jesus Christ unless God the Father permits it. Rom 8:33;
Matt 23:33;NET "You snakes you offspring of poisonous snakes (vipers), how can you escape the sentence of the lake of fire (gehenna)?"
Once a snake is aroused it keeps on striking repeatedly until it is either dead or until it is no longer cornered. In the analogy, like poisonous snakes, the Pharisees will keep on striking at Jesus until they kill Him.
The Lord knows their worldview, their ideology, their theology, their rationales, their hidden agendas and their evil attitude.
He calls them hypocrites and connects them to their forefathers who had murdered the prophets. The reason God sent the prophets was to evangelize them and He will keep on sending more during the Church Age and the majority will reject them and try to kill them.
Jesus tells them that not only are they unbelievers but they are also of the same ilk as their forefathers who killed God's prophets.
He goes on to tell them that without a positive response to the prophets, the pastors, and the apostles, they will appear before the Great White Throne Judgment where they will face the ultimate judgment, conviction, and sentence to the second death in gehenna (the lake of fire).
The only way they can escape this sentence is to respond to the Gospel message and believe in Jesus Christ the one who they are presently conspiring to kill.
Matt 23:34; God had sent evangelists in the past and He will keep on sending them because God is love and love never stops trying until time runs out. 1Cor 13:8;
The Greek word translated "send" in the NASB is "apostello" that in other places is transliterated "apostle."
The prophets that He will send refers to New Testament prophets, those who had the gift of prophecy that only existed during the pre-canon phase of the Church Age (1Cor 13:8;) the wise man is the one who teaches God's Word; the scribe refers to the theologians of the Church Age.
Saul, a Pharisee, persecuted Church Age believers from city to city until Jesus Christ struck him down on the road to Damascus while he was in hot pursuit.
After his conversion he became an apostle and was himself scourged three times and driven from city to city by the same persecution that he had himself engaged in before he became a believer in Jesus Christ.
Matt 23:35; Cain, the first religious person killed Abel who was the first martyr in human history. The first murderer was a religious man and the first martyr was a grace man; "unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias.
Since the Chronicles are at the end of the Tnach, the Hebrew Bible, the prophet Zechariah was the last Jewish martyr listed in Old Testament scripture.
Jesus connects the scribes and Pharisees with those who murdered the prophets during the entire span of the Tnach from Abel the first martyr , to Zechariah the last martyr recorded because their motivation was the same. 1John 3:12;
Since we are here we need to note that this verse seems to contradict 2Chron 24:20; regarding the identity of Zechariah's father because while Jesus states that Zechariah is the son of Barachiah, 2Chron 24:20; states that his father is Jehoiada.
The explanation for this is that it was customary in ancient times to refer to the entire male line of an individual as one's father as it does with Jesus (Luke 18:38;) and it was understood that Barachiah was Zechariah's actual father as Jesus states but the noteworthy person in the line was Jehoiada who had protected Joash.
Biblical chronology shows us that Jehoiada died at age 130 some 17 years before God sent Zechariah to warn Judah. It is obvious therefore that Jehoiada was not Zechariah's father but more likely his grandfather or his great-grandfather.
What the writer of Chronicles is making clear is that Zechariah is in the direct line of Jehoiada who had protected Joash who returned the favor by murdering his grandson. 2Chron 24:21;
This is typical for evil politicians then and now they all lie and murder to steal and maintain power just like their father the devil. John 8:44;
While Zechariah faced Joash down he prayed the prayer for justice that was a prophecy. Joash's failure to prohibit idolatry's return to Judah brought the prophets from God to warn of impending discipline if Judah did not repent.
The murder of Zechariah was clear evidence that both Joash and the people of Judah had rejected God's grace and they refused to change their mind (repent). The consequence was that God answered the prayer of Zechariah: "May the Lord see and avenge."
Within a year the Lord did avenge Joash. 2Chron 24:23-24; We must always remember that Jesus Christ controls history and He will always fulfill His promises one of which is to bring retribution, and that means He will bring judgment on evil doers at the perfect time, 2Pet 3:9;