And after taking counsel, with that money they bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for foreigners.
These words also show how even the silver used as payment for betraying Jesus becomes a means for the fulfillment of prophecy. The chief priests, without understanding it, carry out what had been foretold by prophecy: that “the precious price will be given for the Lord” (Zechariah 11:12–13). With that money they buy the potter’s field, intending to make it a burial place for dead foreigners, and there the symbolic contrast is revealed: the sum that was paid for the betrayal of life is used for the resting place of the dead. In a symbolic sense, the potter’s field also represents the human world—made of clay and sin—which will be cleansed by the purifying blood of Christ. Thus, human injustice, without realizing it, serves the divine plan. The field that was to become a grave for foreigners became a symbol that Christ, as a sacrifice, will be the foundation of salvation for all peoples, including foreigners.