(Matthew 23: 29-39)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Jesus accused the Pharisees of being a viper's children because they had his righteousness. They thought that if they kept the law well, they would be righteous. Thus they did not find Christ through the law.

『For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 』 (Romans 10: 3) Paul speaks to the Jews. The Jews engaged in faith as if they were praying several times a day. They tried to keep the law thoroughly. But they did not realize the righteousness of God after all, but established their own righteousness. As a result, the Pharisees and scribes crucified the Son of God. Those condemned by the world came to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes were only planning to catch Jesus.

The Pharisees and scribes, who regarded the law as unblemished, shouted, "He must die." This is "their own righteousness". Jesus is God's righteousness. The Pharisees and scribes recited the Bible and were waiting for the Messiah. But in order to establish their own righteousness, they killed Jesus, who is God's righteousness.

This was the same situation before Paul met Jesus Christ in Damascus. He considered himself to be without blemish in the law. Before he met Jesus, Saul was the one who caught and killed the Christians. If we do not repent, we will build up our own righteousness. This is ego. If you do not give up your righteousness, you do not repent.

In Job 42: 5-6,『I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. 』(kjv) But the niv Bible says, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." There is a difference in translation.

The Bible says in Luke (14: 26-27)『If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 』 The Bible tells us to be a self-denying life. The life I am mastered only builds up my own righteousness. A life that is more dependent on God is that like Jacob, the ringbone must be broken. Today, in situations that cannot be solved by our own strength, we must be broken if we depend more than God. This will be a life of laying down one's righteousness. This is repentance.

Repentance is a life of self-denial. Repentance involves not only confessing and reflecting on the sins of the world, but also taking away the attributes of self (old man). If we focus on repentance on sin, we forget the death of the old man. First is to deny self. The old man dies. Then the sins of the world are forgiven.

This is clearly stated in Romans 6: 3-9.『Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 』

If the old man does not die and is not born again with new life, sin continues and sin in the world remains in it. The dead are free from sin.