Matthew 23:29-30

[29] Woe scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, [30] And say, If in the days fathers, we would not partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

What is the context of Matthew 23:29-30?

Eight Woes (Matthew 23:13-36 true)
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-39 true)
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders (Matthew 23:1-36 true)
Seven Woes Pronounced on the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36 true)
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36 true)
Religious Hypocrites Denounced (Matthew 23:1-36 true)
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36 true)
Jesus Denounces the Scribes and the Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36 true)

What does Matthew 23:29-30 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

By building monuments to the prophets and other righteous people that their forefathers had martyred, the Pharisees were saying that they would not have killed them if they had been alive then. These construction projects constituted professions of their own spiritual superiority as well as honors for the dead. The Christian who naively thinks he or she would not have committed the mistakes that the early disciples of Jesus did makes the same assumption of superiority.