The Handsome Price (Zechariah 11:13)

 


Thursday, November 21, 2024


Psalm 50

Zechariah 11:4-17

Revelation 9:1-12


The Handsome Price (Zechariah 11:13)


If you read this passage from Zechariah and felt like a spiritual wave swept through you as you did, then I would like to confirm for you: yes, this is an explicit prophecy of the betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. St Matthew, in his gospel, says that the betrayal was a fulfilment of the prophet Jeremiah: it is alluded to in more detail there (and over several chapters), but here in Zechariah it is more plain and in fewer words.


Christ is the Good Shepherd; and if you do your morning prayers out of the old prayer book like me, then you might be singing Psalm 100: “Be ye sure that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Zechariah’s prophecy concerns this imagery of sheep in the pasture; of good shepherds and of worthless. And there is a special condemnation for the worthless shepherds.


Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave. It was also the price that Zechariah was paid, in spite of his hard work as a good shepherd. And it was the price that Judas accepted in order to betray Jesus. A handsome price at which they priced the Lord of Glory indeed!


Everyone has a price for betrayal, according to countless cheesy Hollywood lines. What is our price? Jesus has claimed Lordship over all things, from the ever-expanding universe, down to the spots of dust on our shelves, and even our very souls. He is our King, our Shepherd, our Brother and our Friend. We know what Jesus desires of us, from our prayerful study of the Bible, and the guidance of Holy Spirit to our conscience. We are members of families, churches, community groups, neighbourhoods, and nations. Jesus is Lord of all of these places. He calls for them to follow him, to listen to his voice as the Good Shepherd. Are we listening and following? If not, what was our price?


Christ our Good Shepherd: bring to us, the people bought by your own precious blood, the favour and union of God the Holy Trinity, and assert your authority as Lord over all creation through our humble obedience to your rule.

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