The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 130

Vers.12-14.-A model, spiritual teacher. "And I said unto them, If ye think good give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." Why these words should have been referred to by the Evangelist Matthew (xxvii. 9, 10), and applied to Christ and Judas, I cannot- explain. Kor can any one else, judging from the conflicting interpretations of biblical critics. Matthew not only misquotes the words, but ascribes them to Jeremiah, and not to Zechariah. The probability is that the " thirty pieces of silver " and the "potter's field,"' in connection with Judas, reminded the evangelist of these words, brought them to his memory, and from his memory he quotes them; for he gives them very incor- rectly, neither according to the Greek version nor the original Hebrew. As the words, as they stand here, have an historical meaning entirely independent of St. Ma.tthew's application of them, they may be fairly employed to illustrate a model spiritual teacher in relation to secular acknowled,gments of his teachings, Three things are suggested concerning the shepherd in this capacity. I. HE LEAVES THE SEOUL.AR .A.CKNOWLEDGMENT TO TH& FBEE CIIOIOE OF THOSB TO WHOM HIS SERVICES HAVE BEEN RENDERED, "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear." He does not exact anything, nor does he even suggest any amount. He leaves the matter entirely to themselves, give or not give, give this a.mount or that. This is as it should be. Ministers, whilst they have a Divine claim to a secular remuneration of their services, are neither authorized nor are they disposed, if they are true teachers, to enforce their claims upon the reluc- tant. "We have not used this power," says Paul (see 1 Cor. ix. 9-17). It may be asked-Why should the temporal support of the spiritual teacher be left entirely to the choice of the people ? 1. Because contributions that a.re entirely free are the only proofs tfl the minister that his services are real,ly valued. What proof is there in the amounts raised by tithes or rates, or, as in some Nonconformist Churches, by diaconate guar(]ll1,tees, that the service of the existing minister has been really valued? 2. Because the contributions that are entirely free are the only contributions that are of any 'TM'T'al worth. Those who give from custom or law, or in any way reluctantly, without a "willing mind," have no claim to moral credit; their contributions, however large, are counted worthless in the empire of virtue. II. His SPIBITU.A.L SERVICES ARE SOMETIMES SHAMEFULLY UNDERRATED. "So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." Thirty shekels. An amount in our money of about £3 3s. 9d. This was the price they put oo his services, just the price paid for a bond-servant (Exod. xxi 32). 1. Do not determine the real worth of a spiritual te,acher by the amount of his stipend, This is often done: all fools do this. Yet who does not know ministers who get for their labours £100 a year who are of far higher character, and render nobler services than many who get their £500, and even £1000? The fa.et is, the minister who wants a. large income, as a rule, must get a large congre- gation ; and he who would get a large congregation must pander to popular prejudices and tastes. 2. Deplore the backwardness of the world in appre,ciating the highest services. The highest service one man <:an render another is the impartation of those Divine ideas that will most quicken, invigorate, and ennoble his mind. But such services are, alas! the least valued. Men will ps.y their scullery-maid or their groom a larger sum every year than they pay their minister, "Thirty shekels," £3, for a minister;  TlIE BOOK OF' ZECHARIAit, 133