(verses 8-10):
But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.
(verses 29-36):
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Verses 8-10. I love this. Imagine if anyone other than Jesus were to get up and say, “Everyone on the planet, listen up! Stop looking to other people as your teachers and leaders. I’m the only teacher and leader you'll ever need.”
Verse 34. “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes…” I can imagine the whispers and dropped jaws. “Hang on, did that preacher -- the carpenter, the son of Mary and Joseph -- just say ‘I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes...’?”
To me, the proclamation in verse 34 reads almost as though Jesus forgot for a minute that He was in human form. This is God speaking: “I am sending.” The voice is completely consistent with the authoritative first-person voice God uses in the Old Testament, declaring what He intends to set in motion.
There are only four possible responses the crowd can make to the statement Jesus is making here. Stone Him right then and there, walk away shaking their heads (“…this guy is obviously nuts”), grit their teeth and plot His imminent death, or fall on their faces and worship Him. Some of them likely chose option two; the religious leaders chose option three. We have a distinct advantage here: We know to choose option four. But do we choose it? If we don't already, we will (Isaiah 49:7):
Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers,
“Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
Praise You, mighty King of Kings! You will be blessed and worshiped and exalted forever and ever.