My Bible Study: Christmas Prophecy 12

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas Prophecy 12

The Messiah would be sold for 30 pieces of silver.

Prophecy -

Zechariah 11:12

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.

Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave (see Exodus 21:32). Is it coincidence that Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver? Did He become a slave so that we could be free? Is it coincidence that it was a close friend that betrayed Him for the 30 pieces of silver (see the last post)? Not only was Jesus betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver, those silver pieces were thrown down (not placed) in the temple, and used to buy the potter's field (the Jewish leaders couldn't use it for anything else, it was blood money). We see these details also in Zechariah.

Zechariah 11:13

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.

Fulfillment -

Matthew 26:14-16

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

After Judas betrayed Him (you can see yesterday's post), he came back to the chief priests with a different attitude.

Matthew 27:3-9
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. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

Do you think that perhaps Judas deliberately sought to fulfill these prophecies? Do you think that Judas' motives were that of making sure the world believed that Jesus was the true Messiah? Is that why he betrayed him for the 30 pieces? That doesn't make a lot of sense. These details were out of Jesus' control, so if someone were deliberately contriving to fulfill them, it would be either Judas or the chief priests. We are told in John 13 that Judas had control of the money box (the money for all the expenses of Jesus and the disciples during His ministry time), but in John 12 we see that he used to steal from that money box. That doesn't sound like someone that wants the world to know Jesus is the true Messiah. And of course the chief priests didn't want the world to know Jesus was the Messiah, they wanted to kill Him. And after this Judas went and hanged himself. If the motive was to fulfill prophecy, on purpose, so that the world would label Jesus as the Messiah, it makes no sense to kill oneself. No, it is not coincidence that Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver (not 29), was betrayed by a friend (He had many enemies that could have done it), the money was silver (not gold), it was thrown down in the temple (not placed), and was used to buy the potter's field. This is the hand of God in human history. He has a plan and He does fulfill it.