45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
These lawyers were teachers and advisors of the Pharisees. It was their supposed wisdom upon which the Pharisees system of self-righteousness was built, so they had good reason to be insulted. That also made them even more responsible for the sad spiritual state of Israel at that time. Jesus rightfully rebuked them for spiritually oppressing the people, making it seem impossible to have a relationship with and please God. Their long list of rules, resistance to revival and repentance, and making God's word complicated left the people hopeless and ready to give up on themselves and on God. God has openly shared His desire for a relationship with His people. Woe to the one who tries to get in the way.
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