Lk 11, 45-54 Woe also to you scholars of the law!

(Lk 11, 45-54) Woe also to you scholars of the law!

[45] Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, "Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too." [46] And he said, "Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them. [47] Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. [48] Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. [49] Therefore, the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute' [50] in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, [51] from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! [52] Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter." [53] When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, [54] for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

(CCC 579) This principle of integral observance of the Law not only in letter but in spirit was dear to the Pharisees. By giving Israel this principle they had led many Jews of Jesus' time to an extreme religious zeal (Cf. Rom 10:2). This zeal, were it not to lapse into "hypocritical" casuistry (Cf. Mt 15:31; Lk 11:39-54), could only prepare the People for the unprecedented intervention of God through the perfect fulfilment of the Law by the only Righteous One in place of all sinners (Cf. Isa 53:11; Heb 9:15). (CCC 431) In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage" (Dt 5:6) by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offence against God, only he can forgive it (Cf. Ps 51:4, 12). For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God (Cf. Ps 79:9). (CCC 1867) The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel (Cf. Gen 4:10), the sin of the Sodomites (Cf. Gen 18:20; 19:13), the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt (Cf. Ex 3:7-10), the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan (Cf. Ex 20:20-22), injustice to the wage earner (Cf. Deut 24:14-15; Jas 5:4).