Broken Vessels

Matthew 27:3–10 ESV

3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Matthew

When Judas threw the money back with which he had been paid to betray Jesus, he then went and hanged himself. Yet because this was blood-money the priests could not accept the money back.

We are told in the scriptures that the money was used to purchase a potters field which was bought to become a burial place for foreigners.

A potters field was land of very low value, when a potter pulled his wares out of the kiln there would inevitably be some pots that would have fractured or split in the firing process and in these days long before waste collections all that the potter could do was remove the broken pieces and throw them into the field. Over time these broken shards would mount up to such a degree that the land itself became next to useless. After-all you can’t grow anything or graze animals on a piece of land that has thousands of broken pots discarded on it.

Therefore fields used by potters were regarded such low quality that there was little else they could be used for other than for burying the dead.

In we also read about this occasion;

Acts 1:18–20 ESV

18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’

It could be said therefore that Jesus’ blood money was spent to redeem a field of broken vessels and lifeless bodies.

In fact even the place where the traitor died was purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ.

So the next time you feel as though you have let Jesus down, or you feel broken, rejected or of little value. Remember that the blood of Jesus redeems exactly that.