Zechariah 11:12-13 - The Price

“And I said to them, If it seems just and right to you, give me my wages; but if not, withhold them. So they weighed out for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, Cast it to the potter [as if He said, To the dogs!] - the munificently [miserable] sum at which I [and My shepherd] am priced by them! And I [Zechariah] took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” Zechariah 11:12-13

At the time of Zechariah the amount of thirty shekels of silver is the amount paid for a slave’s life. Thirty, according to Bullinger in “Numbers in Scripture” refers to “being 3 X 10, denotes in a higher degree the perfection of Divine order, as marking the right moment. Christ was thirty years of age at the commencement of His ministry, Luke iii..23. Joseph, His type, was the same age, Gen.xli.46. David also, when he began to reign, 2 Sam. V.4.”

The magnificence and brilliance of God’s Word is unparallel. The Son of God came to earth and was offered up as a living sacrifice for mankind just at the “right moment”, being handed over for thirty pieces of silver. He was betrayed/sold for the same price that slaves were purchased in those days, made a slave so that we could be free. Did you ever think of God’s Word as a mystery, clues hidden here and there? Within the pages of the Old Testament lay the greatest story ever told whose fulfillment came in the New Testament through Christ Jesus. The Son of God sold like a common slave so that mankind could be set free from the bondage of sin and death that was in place because of the first Adam.

Thirty pieces of silver the going price for a human life, no wonder the Lord told Zechariah to cast it to the potter ‘as if to the dogs’. What an insult that must have been to God, to count the worth of a man at such a miniscule cost. God counts our worth much higher. As a matter of fact, He gave all He had to purchase us back to Him. He gave His costliest treasure for you and me, He gave His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. So, the next time you think you’re not worth much and that you’re life is without value remember that God sets your value much higher than anything upon this earth. As a matter of fact, He purchased you with heavens best!