The Price of Our Shepherd

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

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.

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!
    May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!” (Zechariah 11:4-17 NIV)

Does it ever happen that you read part of the Bible and think, “What? I don’t know what that means!” You’re not alone. Some parts of the Bible are more difficult to understand than others. Like this chapter! 500 years ago, Martin Luther admitted, “This is a difficult and quite obscure chapter.” If Martin Luther had a hard time understanding this chapter, we shouldn’t be surprised if it sounds strange to us too. So maybe we should just ignore it, right? Skip to some easier part of the Bible? No. Know why? It’s God’s Word. Every part of the Bible is God’s Word. That means it’s worth it for us to seek to understand every part of the Bible, even difficult sections.

It’s pretty clear what this chapter is about: Shepherds. But not shepherds of sheep. Shepherds of people. Leaders of people. Apparently, God’s people had bad shepherds. They had leaders who cared more about getting rich than caring for their flock. These shepherds sold their sheep to be slaughtered and said, “Praise the LORD, I am rich!” Does that sound familiar? Leaders who don’t care about their people? Shepherds whose goal is to get rich? That’s nothing new, but God doesn’t like it. In the Bible, a shepherd is to be the servant of his sheep. Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). God condemns shepherds who don’t care about their people.

In fact, God told his prophet Zechariah: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.” God loves his people. God loves his sheep! So God was going to step in. He told Zechariah to shepherd his people. So Zechariah did. He took two staffs with symbolic names: Favor and Union. Those are good things, aren’t they? And Zechariah got rid of three bad shepherds. We don’t know who they are. One commentator says he’s heard of 40 different suggestions for the three bad shepherds. The point, though, is clear: Zechariah shepherded the people for God. He brought them God’s Favor. He brought them Union with God and with each other. Finally, a good shepherd!

And you’d expect everybody to live happily ever after, right? Except, they didn’t. “The flock detested me,” Zechariah said. God’s people finally had a good leader—a good shepherd—and what did they do? They detested him. Isn’t this how it goes in our world? When someone finally stands up and speaks the truth, people hate him. When somebody sticks their neck out to care for others, they get criticized. Isn’t that how it goes? The problem isn’t just bad leaders. It’s us too! Often, we human beings don’t want godly leaders. They might point out our sins. They might ask us to change. We hate that! God stepped in to lead his people, but his people detested him.

So Zechariah took those two staffs, Favor and Union, and he broke them, saying, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.” But before he stepped down, he asked the people, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” In other words, “Give me whatever pay you think I’ve been worth.” So how much did they give him? “Thirty pieces of silver.” How much was that? Thirty pieces of silver was the price of the lowliest slave. That’s how much the people valued God’s shepherd: Just a little tiny bit. “You’re worth the lowliest slave.” In order words, “Meh… Take this… We don’t care…” How would you have felt?

God didn’t like it. What an insult! He said to Zechariah, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price at which they valued me!” Then God gave the people what they wanted. When people reject God, there comes a point when God says, “Okay, I’ll give you what you want.” So God stopped being their shepherd. Instead, in judgment, God raised up another bad shepherd for them. “I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.” “You don’t want me?” God said. “Okay, you won’t have me at all. I’m done!”

Follow all that? Even the difficult sections of the Bible speak to us today. Being a shepherd, a leader, is a big responsibility. God is going to judge the shepherds who enrich themselves. God is going to punish the shepherds who care for themselves instead of their sheep. Doesn’t this give us things to pray for? “God, give us godly shepherds. Give us godly leaders. Like you!” But we can’t stop there. How often have we rejected the leaders God has given us? Disobeyed parents. Ignored pastors. Dishonored authorities. Doesn’t that give us something else to pray for? “God, forgive me for when I haven’t valued the leaders you’ve put in my life.” Doesn’t this hit home?

But there is something more. Something very important. Some of this strange chapter sounds familiar, doesn’t it? What sounds familiar? How about the “thirty pieces of silver”? Where have you heard that before? That was the price that Judas was paid to betray Jesus. That was the price that Jesus was worth to the people of his day. During Holy Week, the gospel of Matthew quotes this chapter of Zechariah. In fact, remember what Judas did with the money? He tried to give it back, but the bad leaders wouldn’t take it back. So he threw it into the temple, and they used it to buy the potter’s field. This chapter is talking about Jesus! Can you see that? It’s all about Jesus?

Jesus is the key to unlocking this message. Let’s walk through it again. There were bad leaders who cared for themselves and not for God’s people. In Jesus’ day, what were those bad shepherds called? Pharisees. Sadducees. Teachers of the law. God’s people were oppressed by bad shepherds. So what did God do? He stepped in! God loves his people. God stepped in. He sent the Good Shepherd—Jesus himself. Jesus preached against those Pharisees over and over again. He freed people from their oppression. He offered Favor and Union with God. Remember the names of his staffs? Jesus shepherded God’s people as the Good Shepherd. Isn’t that true?

And what did the people do? The flock detested him. It doesn’t make any sense, right? But sin doesn’t make any sense. Jesus wasn’t welcomed as their Savior or hero. He was rejected. He was detested. What was the price that he was worth to the people of his day? Thirty silver coins. All his miracles, all his preaching, all his mercy and compassion, all his offers of eternal salvation through faith in him… What was the price of the Good Shepherd? Thirty silver coins. The price of a slave. Then they crucified him. Does this sound familiar? Zechariah is talking about Jesus!

So what did God say? “Okay, if you don’t want me, I’ll give you what you want. You won’t have me. I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” Do you know what happened soon after Jesus was crucified and rose again and ascended into heaven? God sent other shepherds, other leaders, against the land of Israel. The Roman army led by Titus invaded Israel and besieged Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Countless people died, and the famine was so great that people began to eat each other. The temple was completely destroyed, never to be rebuilt again. It’s all true! When God’s people had bad shepherds, God himself stepped in. But when people rejected God, only judgment was left.

So what does all this have to do with us? God wants us to ask, “Who is my shepherd?” All of us are sheep. That’s become a derogatory term today, hasn’t it? “You’re just a sheep!” Guess what? Every one of us is a sheep. Every one of us is following someone. Who is your shepherd? What podcast? What news source? What YouTube channel? What politician? Who is your shepherd? Does that person care about you? Does that person confront your sins and your faults? Does that person point you to God and his truth? Does that person encourage your faith in Jesus? Who is your shepherd? That’s important! If it’s not Jesus, today’s the day to repent. To turn to him.

But I bet most of us would say, “Jesus is my Shepherd!” That’s great! So here’s the next question: How much do you value him? What price would you put on your Shepherd? We all look down on Judas, right? How could he sell out for thirty silver coins? Would you? Do I? If someone offered you $50,000, would you stop following Jesus? How about $500,000? That’s hard, isn’t it? If someone offered you a successful career, would you sacrifice your Christian principles to have it? If a beautiful person offered to have a relationship with you, would you break God’s commands for him or her? If you had the chance to be the next star athlete or the next great musician, at the expense of time to worship God or study his Word, would you do it?

What price would you put on your Shepherd? Can I speak for all of us and say, “It’s kind of embarrassing to think about, isn’t it?” How often do we throw thirty silver coins at Jesus and say, “Jesus, you’re worth a little bit. Jesus, you are kind of important. Jesus, you’re worth giving up a couple little things. Jesus, I like being around you once in a great while.” That’s hard to hear, isn’t it? Especially for Jesus. “What a handsome price you’ve valued me! Like a slave.” Is that the price we’ve put on our Shepherd? If so, today’s the day to repent. We deserve, like those people long ago, to have Jesus say, “Okay. Have it your way. I will not be your shepherd.”

But he hasn’t. While the Bible convicts us of how little we’ve valued Jesus, the Bible also makes clear how much Jesus has valued us. This prophecy means that Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew that he would be rejected. He knew that he would be sold for thirty pieces of silver. He knew that he would die on the cross. But he still did it. Know why? You’re worth it. You’re worth it to Jesus. You’re worth insults. You’re worth rejection. You’re worth the cross. Jesus didn’t pay thirty silver coins for you. He paid his life for you. You are worth everything to Jesus. Do you believe that? Just look at the cross. You are worth everything to Jesus!

In these words, we see what Jesus offers you and me. He offers to be and do everything those bad shepherds don’t. Jesus came to care for the lost, to seek the young, to heal the injured, to feed the healthy. He came to bring you God’s Favor. He came to bring you Union with God through the forgiveness of sins. We all need to feel loved. We all need to feel valued. Jesus looks you in the eye and says, “You are worth it to me. You are worth everything to me.” The real price of a shepherd isn’t the price we put on Jesus. It’s the price that Jesus put on us.

Jesus gives us a way to evaluate everything. Does that person love me enough to die for me? No? Then I’m not putting him or her over Jesus. Does that activity get me and my family closer to heaven? No? Then I’m not putting it over Jesus and his words of eternal life. Do those things offer me forgiveness and peace and joy? No? Then I’m not trading Jesus for them. Why trade the Rock for a foundation of sand? What’s the price of your Shepherd? You know his price for you: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). No one loves you like Jesus.