Zechariah 11:13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
When I was in kindergarten, we would go for walks in the neighborhood as a class. When we came to a corner, Mrs. Wolfe would lead us in a song. “Stop! Look! And Listen! Before you cross the street. Use your eyes, use your ears, and then use your feet.” Heeding that simple instruction, obeying it, being under the authority of it, could save a life.
Have you ever known someone who was so convinced of their own ‘rightness’ that they could’t be told anything? Of course you have! Many of us have been that someone at one time or another. It’s an oft-repeated pattern. Warnings are given, but the warnings are ignored because the person knows better. In bad cases the person’s arrogance has con-vinced themself that those warnings are for other people. Not them! The bad thing won’t happen to them!
I wonder if Judas ever saw the red flags? I wonder if he ever was quiet enough in his spirit to hear the warnings? He ignored them in any case. When he went to the chief priests to make an arrangement to turn Jesus over to them they offered thirty pieces of silver. He could easily have been aware of today’s verse. But his arrogance must have convinced him that that surely didn’t apply to him! He wasn’t around long enough to see the fullness of the prophecy - the purchase of the potter’s field with the money he had thrown back to/at the chief priests.
I could shake my head at Judas and sit in judgment. But I know that I am prone to the same sort of attitude. (If you’re shaking your head at Judas and me, I have some bad news for you…) We may want to protest, “I would never betray Jesus!” But at the beginning of that sorry end was a person who thought they could disobey God’s Word with no effect. Judas had, for a while, been stealing from the group’s money bag. He knew that was wrong. He rationalized the action and justified himself. We are all far too capable of rationalizing our actions and justifying ourselves.
When I read the Bible, I should never read it with someone else in mind. (“This is just what _________ needs to hear!”) I need to read it and ask God to speak to me. And then I need to listen. Then obey. Most of our trouble doesn’t come from the parts of the Bible that are hard to understand. Our trouble comes from the parts that we do understand, but prefer to disregard. Before heading down that road and inevitable terrible consequences, we should stop, look, and listen.
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
