ZECHARIAH 11:7-13
In the name + of Jesus.
History always has a way of repeating
itself. After the Israelites left Egypt,
they did not obey the word of the Lord. As
a result, everyone who left Egypt at age 20 and older died in the
wilderness. They did not see the
Promised Land. After Joshua led Israel
into the Promised Land, the people were faithful to the Lord until Joshua and
his generation died. Again, Israel did
what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord handed them over to enemy
nations who oppressed them. In the era
of the kings, unfaithful kings set the course for the people to be
unfaithful. The result was 70 years in
captivity by an enemy nation. Upon their
return to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, the people quickly turned from the
Lord to their own selfish ways. It was
to these people that the Lord sent the prophet Zechariah. The faithful few were like sheep which had
been abused and fleeced by faithless leaders.
Many others persisted in their faithless ways. History had repeated itself.
The Lord still had concern for the
afflicted ones. Zechariah was called to
serve them, but even the faithless few grew weary of God’s care. Zechariah said, “I shepherded the
flock which is to be slaughtered, especially the most afflicted of the flock. I took two staffs for myself. One I called Favor and the other Union. Then I shepherded the flock. I removed three shepherds in one month. I grew very impatient with the flock, and they
really detested me” (Zechariah 11:7-8).
Zechariah tended to them with a staff called Favor. He removed faithless shepherds, too. Nevertheless, he lost patience with
them. They despised the Lord’s care. They detested the Lord’s prophet. History repeated itself once again.
This is the way of sinners. History repeats itself. We all have sins we are attracted to. We aren’t usually innovative with our sins,
trying out new and bold ways to offend our God.
We go back to the same sins, again and again. We do them because we like them. We may be repulsed by some sins because they
are perverse or destructive. But all
sins are perverse and destructive. Nevertheless,
we go back to them. The liar cannot help
but tell biased and embellished stories.
The cheat always schemes how to take advantage of others. If you are prone to jealousy, you continue to
think evil of others and train yourself to despise them. Eventually, you detest everything they say or
do. Whatever tempts you continues to
pull you in. You go back to your
sins. History repeats itself. Repent.
The Lord is slow to anger, but he does get
there. Zechariah declared that the
Lord’s patience had been put to the test long enough. Zechariah declared, “‘I will not shepherd
you. Whatever is dying, let it die. Whatever is being destroyed, let it be
destroyed. And let those who remain
devour one another’s flesh.’ I took my
staff, Favor, and I broke it in two, to cancel my covenant that I had made with
all the peoples. So it was cancelled on
that day, and the most miserable of the flock, who were watching me, knew that
this was the word of the Lord” (Zechariah 11:9-11).
History repeats itself. In this case, we should not be
surprised. Zechariah not only spoke of
the past, he also foretold the future.
The Lord would raise up a shepherd for his people—a Good Shepherd who
would tend the flock of God faithfully.
His staff is Favor; for he would proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He would have compassion on the poor and
afflicted because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a
shepherd. But he would be despised by
the very people he came to serve and to save.
Although he would be faithful to the covenant—for God’s promises cannot
be broken—the covenant would be broken by those who despised and rejected God’s
faithful servant.
Once Zechariah renounced service to God’s
flock, he asked for compensation. “I
said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, pay me my wages. But if it does not, withhold them.’ So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as
my wages. Then the LORD said
to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, this magnificent price at which they valued me.’
So I took the thirty pieces of silver,
and I threw them into the House of the LORD, to
the potter” (Zechariah 11:12-13). The thirty silver pieces was the price of a
slave. Their compensation proved that
the prophet had little value for them.
The Lord instructed Zechariah to forfeit this paltry salary. This was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ,
who was betrayed by Judas Iscariot for thirty pieces of silver.
Judas’
betrayal of Jesus is intriguing to me, because his motive is unclear to me. When Mary anointed Jesus at the beginning of
Holy Week, St. John reported, “One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was
going to betray him, said, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred
denarii and given to the poor?’ He
did not say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He held the money box and used to steal what
was put into it” (John 12:4-5).
Perhaps Judas’ motive was as simple as making a quick buck. But Jesus had wealthy women supporting him. If Judas knew he could expect a steady stream
of revenue from them, why would he betray Jesus for such a paltry sum?
Perhaps Judas had taken Jesus’ words to
heart about his upcoming death and reasoned that his opportunity to make money
at Jesus’ expense was coming to a close.
Perhaps he had expected more from Jesus.
Most Jews expected the Messiah to establish a glorious kingdom in
Jerusalem. If Jesus established that
kingdom, surely the apostles could expect positions of power and glory in
it. But if Jesus was going to die, Judas
may have considered Jesus a failure of a Messiah. If Jesus did not mean glory for Judas, Judas
could at least get cash for him.
Whatever his motives, Judas certainly could have bargained for a greater
payout from people who desperately wanted Jesus to be silenced and
terminated. Apparently, Jesus was not
worth much to Judas or to the high priests.
Another factor which intrigues me about
Judas was his reaction once he saw that Jesus was condemned to death. “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw
that Jesus was condemned, he felt remorse. He brought back the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘I have sinned by
betraying innocent blood.’ But they
said, ‘What is that to us? That’s your
problem’” (Matthew 27:3-4). Did
Judas not believe they would actually kill Jesus? Did he assume that they would just rough him
up or put him in prison for a little while?
I don’t know. But once Judas
discovered how cruel their plans were, he had deep regret for betraying Jesus.
In an effort to alleviate his guilt, Judas
tried to return the silver to the priests.
When they would not take it, he threw it into the temple, just as
Zechariah foretold. And what worthless
priests! A man came to them overwhelmed
by guilt. “I have sinned by betraying
innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4), he confessed. So, what is the job of the priests? To make sacrifices to atone for sins. To bestow God’s mercy on those who seek God’s
forgiveness. But just as they despised
Jesus, so also they despised God’s forgiveness.
“Your sins are your problem,” they told Judas. And being overwhelmed by guilt and sorrow,
Judas went and hanged himself. Such is
the despair of one who is consumed by his sin.
The weight of sin and guilt is soul-crushing. It robs you of self-worth and alerts you of
divine wrath. When there is no mercy,
there is no hope.
Neither Judas nor the priests thought
Jesus was worth much. What is he worth
to you? This is a question that cannot
be answered until we answer a better question first: What are you worth to
him?
Every human being has worth because he or
she is a creation of God. But our Lord
has demonstrated that you have even greater worth than that. Even though you and I have been corrupted by
sin, the Lord does not regard us as worthless.
Rather, he invested heavily to redeem us. Jesus preached about this in a parable. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a
treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again. In his joy, he goes away and sells all that
he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). You are the treasure that Jesus found.
In order to purchase you for himself,
Jesus gave up all that he had for you. “For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich”
(2 Corinthians 8:9). He left the
glories of heaven where he lived in majesty and power with the Father and the
Holy Spirit. He entered our world in
weakness. He subjected himself to all
this world’s corruption and cruelty. He
who is the truth was subject to lies and slander. He who healed the diseased and afflicted was
beaten and bloodied. He who is light and
life gave himself into death while darkness covered the land. He has redeemed you, not with gold or silver,
but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and
death. That was the price that he
willingly paid to redeem you—an infinite cost borne of infinite love.
What are you worth to him? You are worth the life of the Son of
God. He gave himself to wipe out every
sin that stood against you—whether those sins are history repeating itself or
were one-time offenses, whether you were dismissive of your guilt or were
brought to despair, whether you were unaware of your guilt or someone replays
it for you every day. Do not measure
your worth by what other people think of you.
Do not even measure your worth by what you think of yourself. Jesus has shown you that you are worth his very
life to ransom you from death and hell.
Jesus says you that you are worth receiving his body and blood to
continually assure you of his mercy—the holy things for his holy ones. Jesus has made you worthy of a place at the
heavenly feast with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.
What is he worth to you? Who could put a price on it? Who could assess the value of the kingdom of God? Even if it were possible to put a price on the Lord’s forgiveness, it doesn’t matter. He delivers his grace and mercy for free. You are the treasure that Jesus has purchased and won for himself. Therefore, he is the priceless treasure that is ours forevermore.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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