Luke 11:50

Luke 11:50, in plain English

Jesus says this generation will be held responsible for the blood of every prophet ever killed, going all the way back to the beginning of the world. That's a staggering statement.

Why it's here

Why this generation? Because they have the fullest revelation -- Jesus Himself -- and are still saying no. Greater light brings greater responsibility.

Who's speaking

Jesus delivers one of His most sobering warnings about the weight of rejecting God's ultimate messenger.

Where it sits in the story

The weight of this warning is enormous. All of history's rejection of God's messengers culminates here, in the generation that faces the ultimate Messenger and turns away.

The scholarly reading

This generation (hē genea hautē) will be held accountable (ekzētēthē) for all prophetic blood shed from the foundation of the world (apo katabolēs kosmou). The accumulated guilt reaches its climax in those who reject Jesus.

Language and setting

The concept of cumulative guilt suggests that rejecting Jesus, the culmination of all prophetic witness, makes this generation answerable for the entire history of rejection. The blood metaphor echoes Genesis 4:10.

Voice

Jesus pronounces the accumulation of prophetic guilt upon His contemporaries.

Significance

The stakes are impossibly high. Rejecting Jesus isn't just another incident of prophetic rejection -- it's the culmination that brings all previous guilt to a head.

48So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.

49Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’

50As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,

51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

52Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

Read all of Luke 11 — The disciples ask for a prayer, and Jesus gives them words that have echoed for two thousand years. Then he warns against empty religion.