Thirty Pieces of Silver

So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Zechariah 11:7–14
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Thirty Pieces of Silver
How cheaply does the world value their shepherds. How much is a faithful pastor worth? The world does not place a high price on the work of a godly minister, on the shepherding of souls. We hear in these verses the price the wicked are willing to pay for the sheep that have gone astray. Thirty pieces of silver, the price for a slave. And so it should be, for when we follow the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, we are slaves to them. No longer able to free ourselves, we die. Yet God sends faithful pastors to proclaim His Word of Law and Gospel. To free the captives, to free us, from our bondage to sin, death, and the devil. And it is Christ Jesus who is given over for thirty pieces of silver, as a piercing crown of thorns is placed on His head so that we might one day wear crowns of gold.  Jesus paid our price. Not with thirty dirty pieces of silver, but with His holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. So now we are set free to love God and love our neighbor. What a priceless gift!