Zechariah 11:12–13: “Then I said to them, ‘If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.’ So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter.”

December 22nd, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Zechariah asked those he was shepherding what they felt he was worth to them, and their mocking response was 30 pieces of silver. According to Exodus 21:32, this was the amount paid for a slave gored by an ox. They were insulting him by saying he was worth no more than a damaged slave. Interestingly, this is exactly how Judas’ betrayal of Jesus played out more than 500 years later in Matthew 26:15: Judas “said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.” Judas later tried to return the money but when the priest refused to take it, he threw it into the temple:

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. (Matt. 27:3–7)

In both cases, the 30 pieces of silver went to buy a potter’s field, which was considered useless land because it was where the potter threw his broken, damaged, and rejected pottery. It’s not hard to see the application of Jesus Christ purchasing the potter’s field where broken, rejected, and useless people are scattered. Jesus is in the business of repairing broken lives.

Bill Gather wrote a great old song, “I Will Serve You,” describing Jesus’ love:

I will serve Thee because I love Thee
You have given life to me
I was nothing before You found me
You have given life to me.

Heartaches, broken pieces
Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary
Your touch was what I longed for
You have given life to me.

“LORD, help us live our lives before others in such a way that they see You and Your love.”