The price of the true shepherd

Zechariah demands wages from the leaders for his work. Since the wages had not been determined beforehand, the matter was left to the leaders’ evaluation. (1) “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” (v 12) carries that meaning. In other words, if they judged his work to have no value, they did not need to pay him. (2) In response, the leaders paid thirty shekels of silver (thirty pieces of silver). In the Jewish context, this was worse than paying nothing at all. The background is the regulation found in Exodus 21:32: “If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.” Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slain slave. The leaders despised Zechariah’s ministry. (3) Therefore, the Lord commands Zechariah, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them” (v 13). The thirty pieces of silver paid by the leaders were also the price at which they valued the Lord. It was a symbolic amount expressing contempt for the Lord. (4) As the Lord commanded, Zechariah threw it to the potter in the house of the Lord. This means that he threw it into the potter’s district near the temple of the Lord.

Christ the good shepherd

These things were fulfilled in the life of Christ. (1) Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver (ref. Matt. 26:14-16). (2) The thirty pieces of silver were used to buy the potter’s field (ref. Matt. 27:3-10). The thirty pieces of silver used to buy Jesus came from the temple treasury. Originally, this money was intended for purchasing sacrificial animals. Unknowingly, the leaders were purchasing Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice. (3) In verse 14, Zechariah breaks the staff called “Union.” The meaning of this is the destruction of the brotherhood among the people of Israel. This was fulfilled between 66 and 70 AD. The Zealot movement, which resisted Rome, repeatedly fell into internal division, and as a result lost its fighting strength. This was also one reason why Jerusalem fell so easily. Let us remember the sorrow of Jesus, who was sold for the insulting price of thirty pieces of silver. The Lord Jesus became a sacrificial offering in order to save us. He is our good shepherd.