In this week’s installment of Monday Morning Prophecy, we continue our look at the betrayal of Jesus. Last week we looked at the price paid to Judas Iscariot to betray the Lord. This week, we look at what ultimately happened to that money.
You will recall that last week we said that Zechariah, writing sometime around 500 B.C., prophecied that Judas would be given 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus. In the very next verse, he predicts what would happen to the money:
“And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.” [Zechariah 11:13]
Zechariah is clear. The money would be thrown into the temple to the potter. So, let’s see what the New Testament says actually happened:
The New Testament tells us that Judas did indeed throw the money into the temple and that the chief priests used the money to buy the potter’s field:
“3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 I have sinned, he said, for I have betrayed innocent blood.
What is that to us? they replied. That’s your responsibility.
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money. 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.” [Matthew 27:3-8]
The detail of Old Testament prophecy, down to the very smallest bit of information, is absolutely astounding. God knew before the foundation of the world was laid that Judas would have remorse and throw the money into the temple. He also knew what the priests would do with that money. And, he was gracious enough to put it all in the Old Testament hundreds of years prior to the birth of Christ as a testament to the truth of the Bible and the Lordship of Christ. Next week, we’ll see if the Old Testament predicts anything about the fate of Judas!
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Image courtesy of Abby Reed