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Explanation for:
Matthew
23
:
32
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
11
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{"arr":[{"author-name":"Jerome of Stridon","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c88dcd3432c6dd41375498_Jerome%20of%20Stridon.png","category":"Holy Fathers and Teachers","century":4,"exegesis-text":"Having previously indicated that they were the offspring of those who took the lives of both men and prophets, He now arrives at the conclusion He intended, assuming it to be the ultimate deduction: But fulfill the measure of your forefathers, meaning you are to complete what they fell short of. They murdered the ministers, while you crucify the Lord; they silenced the prophets, and you reject the One foretold by the prophets."},{"author-name":"Anonymous Commentary (Opus Imperfectum)","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c96d263b8c22d9c467bdab_no-pic-theosis.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":4,"exegesis-text":"Any act of kindness performed for God's sake is inherently good in all respects. Conversely, actions that lack universal goodness and are merely for human approval serve selfish ends, as this example demonstrates. Consider those who construct memorials and adorn houses of worship; they may appear to be acting righteously. If their deeds reflect God’s righteousness, if their kindness uplifts the impoverished, and if their acts do no harm to others, it is evident that their intentions glorify God. However, if they disregard God’s righteousness, if their actions do not bring joy to the needy, and if they obtain their good through manipulation and coercion, then it is evident to any discerning mind that they seek human praise rather than divine glory. Those who erect monuments should be genuinely concerned about the plight of the poor, knowing that the martyrs will not take delight in gifts that result in others' suffering. What sort of justice is it to present offerings to the deceased while robbing the living or to pour out the blood of the marginalized as an offering to God? Such actions do not constitute true sacrifice to the Lord; rather, they attempt to enlist God as a partner in one’s wrongdoing. To accept a gift gained through sin is to partake in that very sin."},{"author-name":"Ambrose of Milan","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c88871ceef8c96e0998cd0_Ambrose%20of%20Milan.png","category":"Holy Fathers and Teachers","century":4,"exegesis-text":"The superficial devotion of the Jews is vividly illustrated here, as they outwardly honor the prophets by constructing their tombs while simultaneously condemning their ancestors. By mimicking the wrongdoings of those forebears, they ultimately bring condemnation upon themselves. Their grand monuments to the prophets stand as a statement against the crimes of the murderers, yet in replicating such actions, they reveal themselves as true successors to their ancestors’ wickedness. It is not merely the act of building sepulchers that is counted as sin, but the replication of the transgressions. Those who engage in even greater wrongdoing cannot escape the legacy of inherited sin, particularly as they have magnified their forebearers’ faults through the crucifixion of the Son of God. Accordingly, it is just that He would assert, “Fulfil the measure of your fathers” (Matthew 23:32); their offenses against God are indeed extreme. This is the reason Wisdom dispatches apostles and prophets to them. And who is this Wisdom if not Christ? As noted in 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30, and again in Matthew: “Behold, I send to you prophets and wise men” (Matt. 23:34)."},{"author-name":"Theophylact of Bulgaria","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c8989296bafed9104677d7_Theophylact%20of%20Bulgaria.png","category":"Holy Fathers and Teachers","century":11,"exegesis-text":"In saying, ‘add to the measure of your fathers,’ He neither commands nor incites them to take His life, but rather conveys this idea: as you are serpents and offspring of similar ancestors, and as your wickedness has not brought you healing, strive instead to exceed the actions of your forebears; this you will accomplish when you put Me to death."},{"author-name":"Michail (Lusin)","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c89550c567e172d15b3055_Michail%20(Lusin).png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"To \\"add to the measure of your fathers\\" signifies not an order but a prophetic insight indicating that they would exceed their ancestors in their malevolence, particularly in the unjust killing of the innocent. This phrase implies the completion of what was initiated, taken to its utmost extent. This prophecy was realized in the crucifixion of Christ by the Jewish leaders and in the subsequent persecution faced by His apostles. The death of the Lord exceeded the bounds of God’s forbearance, leading Him to allow His chosen people to be subjected to the dominion of the Gentiles."},{"author-name":"Abbot Panteleimon about the Trinity","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c96d263b8c22d9c467bdab_no-pic-theosis.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"Exceed the deeds of your ancestors in their wickedness and in the spilling of the innocent's blood. Go beyond the limits of God's patience!"},{"author-name":"Gladkow B.I.","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c88bf0ceef8c96e09a6521_Gladkow%20B.I..png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"It is a cause for shame to acknowledge such forebears, yet you identify as their offspring; you take pride in being the descendants of killers, and soon you will follow in their footsteps, exceeding even the evils of your ancestors. Fulfill the measure of the vile acts of your forefathers, and carry out the violence you have plotted!"},{"author-name":"Lopuchin A.P.","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c891400ee1341634d2276d_Lopuchin%20A.P..png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"Alas for those who feign remorse while they denounce their forefathers for mistreating the prophets. They harbor the murderous spirit of their ancestors and even exceed the magnitude of their predecessors' sins with even more dreadful acts."},{"author-name":"Paul Matwejewski","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c8969f5be0d592d5a10576_Paul%20Matwejewski.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"The one who breaks hearts, fully aware of the hidden thoughts and motives of the scribes and Pharisees, announced woes upon them. He stated, in the words of the esteemed interpreter, that their fault lay not in honoring the prophets by erecting monuments, which is indeed a noble endeavor, but in their hypocrisy and in condemning their ancestors while committing even graver offenses, thereby surpassing their forebears in malice. They were misleadingly proclaiming, “If we had lived in the times of our ancestors, we would not have slain the prophets,” though they were intent on eliminating the very Lord of those prophets. Thus, the Savior continued, “You testify against yourselves, that you are the offspring of those who persecuted the prophets—children who follow in their forefathers' footsteps in their vehement resistance to divine truth.” The God-Man perceives that soon these wicked descendants will not only match but exceed their forefathers in wrongdoing, culminating in the dreadful act of crucifying God Himself, followed by the persecution and murder of the Gospel proclaimers. In this way, you will complete the measure of your predecessors; ‘this is not a command but a prophecy of what is to come,’ as stated by Saint John Chrysostom. In a fervor of righteous anger, he labels the Pharisees with the same term that both Saint John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7) and he himself (Matthew 12:34) had previously used: serpents, the offspring of evil."},{"author-name":"Bogolepow D.P.","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c96d263b8c22d9c467bdab_no-pic-theosis.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"The final and eighth lamentation that the Lord issues to the Pharisees addresses their murderous desires and actions against God’s messengers. While the Pharisees may claim they are innocent of such sin, as they construct memorials to the ancient prophets, asserting they would not agree to partake in the wrongful taking of righteous lives had they lived in those earlier times, their own words betray them. By making such claims, they reveal themselves as murderers, for they acknowledge their identity as descendants, in spirit, of those who killed the prophets. Christ continues by saying, \\"But complete the measure of your fathers,\\" urging them to finish what their ancestors began—namely, to slay both the Messiah, who was served by the prophets, and His new envoys, the apostles—thus sealing their fate with the unavoidable judgment of hell."},{"author-name":"Alexander Gorsky","author-image":"https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6864003fdf3714da6ff0b33a/68c8884037c1e1c51e1332e2_Alexander%20Gorsky.png","category":"Christian Authors","century":19,"exegesis-text":"Following these events, the Lord departed from the temple, issuing a stern warning to the Pharisees and the temple priests who had led the people into corruption, alongside forewarnings of God’s impending judgment. As He concluded His earthly ministry, He proclaimed that He would continue His work through His messengers; however, the Pharisees would also pursue these messengers as well as those who had previously testified to the truth. In doing so, they would only compound the sins of their forebears, culminating in the divine judgment that would be revealed upon the wickedness of Jerusalem."}]}
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