Inherited Guilt

Are we guilty of the sins of our fathers?

'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, "If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets." Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? - Matthew 23:29-33

In today's Gospel, Jesus holds the Pharisees accountable for the acts performed by those who held that position centuries before.  Is that fair?

Shouldn't they be held accountable for their own actions and not for the acts performed by those who came before them?

Jesus points to their praise of the ancestors by building tombs to them, and he holds that as proof that they admire these men who killed the prophets. 

We have heard similar claims recently about the statues and monuments to our founding fathers and leaders of our nation who possessed slaves.  Isn't that the same thing?

Jesus goes on to call them hypocrites because he knows they will turn around after denying they would do such a thing, and they will crucify him.  So, they will prove that they are no different than their ancestors.

In the case of slave owners, we are different in many ways. 

We are not all descendants of slave owners, so we don't automatically inherit the guilt from their actions.  And in addition, we are not in a position today to repeat the crime.

Some would argue that we benefit from the sins of the past, and that is true for all of us.  We all benefit from the abuses and advantages taken against immigrants, slaves and others who helped build this country's foundation and infrastructure.  And to the extent that we continue to do as our predecessors did, we should be ashamed.

But if we commit these sins ourselves, then the guilt should be ours.

The prophets spoke the words they received from God and they were killed for it.  Jesus pointed this out and they killed him as well.

Of course, the ones who killed them believed they were following the law.

That's the problem here, isn't it?  The law they were following needed to be changed, and they refused to do it.

To the extent that we change our laws of the land to more closely resemble the laws of God, we will be doing what is right.  And I believe that is the message we need to take away form this.  We inherit the guilt of our fathers when we fail to change our ways.

We redeem ourselves when we align ourselves with God.

So, maybe, instead of accusing each other of being hypocrites, we should get to work.

More to come...