Matthew 23:34

Matthew 23:34. Therefore behold I send unto you. Comp. Luke 11:49. ‘Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them,' Here Christ, having already spoken as Judge, says, ‘I send.' He is ‘the wisdom of God.' ‘Therefore;' because they were determined to go on in the way of their fathers, and were to be left to do so. The sending of messengers of salvation, the multiplication of privileges, hastens the doom of the hardened. A fact in history as well as a declaration of God's word.

Prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Names applied to the Old Testament messenger's and teachers; here applied to New Testament messengers, whom Christ as Head of the Church would send. From Luke 11:49, we infer that there is also a reference to 2 Chronicles 24:19. The Old Testament teachers had been treated in the same way, and the prediction indicates that they too had been sent by Christ. ‘Prophets' probably refers to Apostles; ‘wise men' to those specially endowed by the Holy Ghost, like Stephen; and ‘scribes' to those mighty in the Scriptures such as Apollos. But there is no necessary distinction, for Paul belonged to all three classes. On the treatment of the Christian messengers, see Acts 5:40; Acts 23:19; Acts 26:11