It was the chief priests that set the price for Jesus’ betrayal, but there is an interesting coincidence with the price set. If you search the Scriptures for another place where a price is set at thirty shekels, you will find only two places – both instances are the price for a person – in Exodus for a gored slave and in Leviticus for “special or difficult vows” for a woman. Brace yourself for this one, it’s a doozy of a revelation.
The first use of the word “special or difficult” in the Scriptures is in Genesis 18 when the Lord says “is there anything too difficult for Me?” This is in reference to to Sarai’s unbelief that she could bare the child of promise, who would be a type of Christ as He would nearly be sacrificed on the very hill that Jesus was crucified on. So the price set for the Messiah, which resulted in the purchase of His bride, was the same as the price for a woman making a difficult vow. How was the vow “difficult”? It was difficult because we cannot fulfill our vows, He does it for us in the Cross. But, as He said to Isaac’s parents, nothing is too difficult for Him. Nothing is impossible for Him, nothing.
The special or difficult vow is the same kind of vow that a Nazarite would make, explained in Numbers 6. Nazarites are those who set themselves apart in sanctification to the Lord not to earn something from God, but to honor His holiness. Jesus wasn’t a Nazarite, He was a Nazarene – a person from Nazareth. But many believe His cousin John was a Nazarite by the angelic proclamation before his birth (see Luke 1). John was “a friend of the Bridegroom”, one who prepared the way of the Lord. There is a generation that will have John’s heart to prepare the heart of the Bride for her Bridegroom, the romance of the Gospel is a treasure worth hiding deep in our hearts. When Solomon was giving wisdom to his son, he spoke a proverb that declared three things are too “special or difficult” for him, four that he did not understand. The last of these four things was “the way of a valiant man with his beloved” – Jesus and His Bride.
If the bride of Christ thing is too gooey for you, you want a more manly understanding, let’s look at the warrior of warriors, King David. He is the one whose hands were too blood-soaked for the Lord to allow Him to build the Temple. Side note: in 2 Chronicles 2:9 Solomon asks for the best wood for the Temple because it was to be “special” – same word. Jesus, also used special wood to tear down the Temple of His Body and then He rebuilt it in three days. Back to ruddy King David, a man’s man. Read 2 Samuel 1:26, you will find that David had such deep love for Jonathan, the son of the current king, Saul, that he said “your love to me is more wonderful than the love of women”. In the same way, our soon-coming King Jesus, the son of David, has such deep love for us that it surpasses marital affection. And, yes, you guessed it, the word “wonderful” used in David’s song in 2 Samuel 1 is the same word we talking about.
This price that was set for our redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus not only yanked us out of eternal damnation, it clothed us with His righteousness. Job used our new favorite word in Job 10:16 saying that the Lord had stalked him like a lion and “shown Himself marvelous upon him”. Like David sang in Psalm 23, Job saw that the Lord had stalked him with His “special and difficult” goodness and lovingkindness. We, too, after receiving the redemption of the Cross and Empty Tomb receive the Spirit and are born anew, clothed in His righteousness. We can then enjoy new Life in new garments as we see Jesus show Himself “marvelous” upon us.
*Jesus all we can say is, “Thank You. Thank You. Thank YOU. THANK YOU!”*
