I’m finally starting to see deeper into the Word. I was reading Matthew 27 this morning, where Judas, full of remorse tries to return the money to the chief priests and elders who arrested Jesus. They would not take it directly, so Judas threw the 30 pieces of silver into the temple and went to hang himself. They then picked it up, and being bound by their religion, said “‘It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.’ So they decided to use the money to buy the potters field as a burial place for foreigners”, thus fulfilling what was written in Zechariah 11:12-13.
What I noticed about the scripture 11:12-13 is that it has three consecutive numbers, so I read what came before and after the scripture:
Here’s what I found:
10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
Here’s what I learned:
1. The action of the religious leaders that day as they rejected the Son, coincided with God’s plan for a New Covenant. The old covenant was legally broken with the action of the betrayal, purchase, rejection of the “blood money” and ultimately, the purchase of the potters field, which was then called the “field of blood” which was used as a “burial place for foreigners”.
2. Choice and rejection pave the way for grace. God always gave the Jews a choice, and they have almost always rejected Him. God’s favor was turned away from His chosen people many times throughout the old testament, (He even put his favor on Babylon for a time to carry out the punishment for that rejection).
3. Under the New Covenant, the blood of Christ provided for foreigners – gentiles. Remember when Christ told the woman at the table that he came for the children of Israel? The rejection of Christ and the money exchange to break the covenant is part of the pre-ordained opening of the gospel to non-Jews. The purchase of the place to bury foreigners is the prophetic act that demonstrates that the Blood was for people of all nations.
4. Union was broken. From this point on, many Jews would follow Christ, and many would remain religious pharasees who would continue to reject the new covenant.