THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER
Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the thirty pieces of silver was written around 500 years before Christ. In the prophecy, the Lord called Zechariah to shepherd the suffering flock of Judah and Israel, and he obeyed. He cared for the flock and removed the evil and worthless shepherds who had formerly been over the flock. Yet the people hated him. So, he revoked the covenant he had with them and asked for whatever wages they felt was owed him. They counted out thirty pieces of silver for his wages.
Zechariah would’ve recognized this amount as a slap in the face. For it was the amount prescribed in the Mosaic Law as the worth of a slave (See Ex. 21:32). So the Lord told Zechariah to “Throw it to the potter.” Zechariah sarcastically called the wages a “magnificent sum,” seeing that they had valued him as a slave. He obeyed the Lord and threw the thirty coins to the potter in the Temple.
One can’t help but notice the Messianic foreshadowing in this prophecy. Whatever meaning it had to those in Zechariah’s day, it had even greater fulfillment in Christ. For the religious rulers in the first century rejected the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. They paid Judas Iscariot thirty pieces of silver to betray him. Yet afterwards, Judas regretted his betrayal and threw the silver into the Temple and went and hanged himself (See Matt. 27:5). The religious rulers knew that it was against the law to put the “blood money” into the Temple treasury, so they bought the Potter’s field with it as a burial place for strangers. Thus fulfilling the prophecy.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Your Word. It is wonderful to us. We are built up and encouraged in our faith by the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies concerning Jesus. We do not reject Him, but we bow to Him as our Lord and Savior, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. In Jesus’ name, amen.