When I read about Jesus telling the Pharisees they were offspring of vipers, I didn't realize the full impact of his words. (Matthew 12:34; 23:33-35) I mean who wants to be compared to a snake? Slithering quietly they curl up under rocks or in crevices or in trees until they're ready to strike their victims. Who may not even know what hit them.
But Jesus didn't just call the pharisees snakes. No, he called the men thought to be the most religious people around a group of vipers. Vipers? They're poisonous snakes that often hunt at night, striking their victim then following it until it dies. Can you say, cruel?
On the surface a comparison to vipers may seem bad enough. But according to the Chronological Bible there was a prevalent ancient belief that held vipers to be the worst among snakes because they were parent killers. It went something like this: the female ate the male following impregnation; then the babies killed the mother by eating their way through her as they made their way out. Though the people understood the babies to be avenging their father's death, this gave the viper a bad rap.
To dishonor a parent was bad enough to most people, but to the Hebrew killing a parent was the worst thing ever. No other crime could surpass that.
So, Jesus wasn't just calling the pharisees sneaky and ready to stop the unsuspecting. He was insinuating that they didn't even honor their own parents and were ready to do unspeakable evil. I'm sure for those hearing this comparison an even greater dislike for the pharisees developed and any respect they had for their teaching was diminished.
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