Who then was the Zacharias who was killed between the temple and the altar? Some say it was the ancient Zacharias, son of Jehoiada, who was stoned to death, as is known from the book of Kings (2 Chron. 24:20–21). Others say it was the father of the Forerunner. He did not exclude the Theotokos from the rank of virgins after she gave birth to Christ, and placed her in the same spot where they stood; and this place was between the temple and the outer bronze altar. For this they killed him. Since some expected Christ to be their future king, while others did not wish to be under the authority of a king, they killed this saint also because he affirmed that a Virgin had given birth and that Christ was born, their future King — which was hateful to them, for they wished to be without a king.
Lk. 11:52. Woe to you, lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you yourselves did not enter, and those who were entering you hindered.
By the "key of knowledge" the Lord meant the teaching and guidance through the Law, which is able to lead to Christ. For the Law undoubtedly serves as a tutor leading to Christ (Gal. 3:24). Thus, the lawyers appeared to be explaining the Law, yet they maliciously withheld the "key of knowledge" and did not open the doors of the Law, through which they themselves and the people could have come to Christ. The Law serves as a door to Christ. But this door remains shut if someone does not explain the obscure aspects of the Law and thus open the door. For the Lord Himself said: "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me" (John 5:46). And again: "Search the Scriptures... they testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me" (John 5:39–40). I will point to one example.
Among the Jews, as is known, a lamb was slain, the doorposts were anointed, they ate these meats, and this was for them a victory over the destroyer (Ex. 12:1–13). By all of this, the Mystery of Christ was prefigured.
When Christ was slain as the Spotless and Most Pure Lamb, then our doorposts were also anointed, that is, the heart and the will, and their lintel, that is, the mind, and we tasted the flesh of the Son of Man and conquered the destroyer of our spiritual powers. And a great many ordinances of the Law pointed to Christ.
Although the Law was, as it were, covered and locked by the darkness of the letter, as if by a door of sorts, yet if the teaching was entrusted to someone, that person had the key of knowledge; and if such a person had wished, he could have opened it, and would have entered himself, and would have led others in. But the lawyers did not do this; rather, they "took away the key of knowledge," that is, they concealed it, hid it from sight; and when this key was taken out of the way (hidden), that is, the interpretation of the Law, then its door also remained locked.
By "the key of knowledge" you can also understand faith. For the knowledge of truth comes through faith, as the prophet Isaiah also says: "If you do not believe, you will not understand" (Is. 6:10). So the lawyers took "the key of knowledge," that is, faith, from the midst and hid it. For they did not allow certain people to believe in Christ, the Savior of all. He worked miracles, and the people, believing on account of these miracles, would have acknowledged Him as God, but they (the lawyers) said that He performed these miracles by the power of Beelzebub. Do you see how they took away the key of knowledge, not allowing people to believe in that which would have led them to knowledge? He (Christ) taught the will of God in the synagogues, but they (the lawyers) said: "He has a demon and is mad; why do you listen to Him?"
So they (that is, the Pharisees and scribes) truly took the key of knowledge, but they themselves did not enter and did not allow others to enter, and moreover those who were "entering," that is, those already capable of the knowledge of God.
Lk. 11:53. When He said these things to them, the scribes and Pharisees began to press Him vehemently, provoking Him to speak on many things,
Lk. 11:54. Lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.
"While He was still saying" these things, they, instead of acknowledging their own powerlessness, as if to refute His words, declared themselves to be wiser than Him and began to shut His mouth, that is, to question Him incessantly and to perplex Him. For difficulty in speech usually arises when very many people suddenly question one person, and moreover about different subjects. Then that person, being unable to answer everyone, gives the foolish reason to consider him defeated. The same thing these accursed ones plotted against Christ. Being many, questioning one, they thought to confound Him in speech and bring Him into difficulty, as one unable to answer them — which was even plausible. For how can one person suddenly answer many on different questions? This can also be understood in the following sense: "to catch Him... from His mouth" and to convict Him. For when someone is caught by his own words, he seems to shut his own mouth, that is, he is convicted by his own mouth and condemned. This meaning is also evident from what follows. For it says: "seeking to catch something from His mouth." What was named a little earlier is now replaced by the words — "to catch from His mouth."
They posed questions to Him sometimes concerning the (Mosaic) Law, in order to expose Him as a blasphemer who reviles Moses (for they suspected Him of this), and sometimes concerning Caesar, in order to declare Him a seditious man seeking power, and about all such things that cunning souls filled with every malice could devise.