Matthew 23:30

If we had been. Each generation tends to pride itself upon being wiser and more tolerant than earlier generations. We ourselves may find satisfaction in thinking that we would not be like the scribes and the Pharisees, oblivious to the fact that in so thinking we become like them (see on Luke 18:11). Increasing light places upon men greater responsibilities. The prophets of former times suffered because they challenged the beliefs, standards, and actions of their contemporaries. Had those prophets been alive today, they would have borne the same messages in denunciation of sin, and these messages would probably have encountered the same callous indifference and provoked the same attempts to silence the prophets who bore them.