Have you ever wondered where Juas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus was buried?

You may have heard the term, Potter’s Field at least once in your life and never given it another thought. 

Clay..Pottery…Paupers…Criminals and the Unknown Stranger

Did you ever wonder why the name,  ‘Potter’s’ Field?  Maybe you thought it was the name of the person who owned the property. It seems the first cemetery known to be used as a burial place for paupers, criminals and unknown persons was Aceldama or ‘field of blood’.  It’s a non-descript, barren piece of land near Jerusalem. 

In the Bible the  described as being originally used by potters.  I’m a potter and understand that the potters then had no way of getting clay the way I do…all prepackaged and ready to throw.  Potter’s then and even now still dig up the clay in their vicinity, clean out all the debris from it, let it dry in a powdered form and then reconstitute it with water.  I like the way I get it better.

Judas Tree and Blood MoneyThat piece of land near Jerusalem was called, Aceldama because it was bought with the blood money paid Judas…the 30 pieces of silver given him by the high priests to betray Jesus.  Judas knew he had sinned and betrayed the Lord.  He returned the thirty pieces of silver and then went out and hanged himself on an elder tree that became known as the ‘Judas Tree’. 

The priests of the temple decided it was unlawful to return Judas’s silver to the temple treasury since it was ‘the price of blood’.  They used the silver to buy a field to bury strangers in (Judas was not a stranger to them.). 

Treasure in Earthen Vessels?

This piece of land was full of clay from which potters dug clay and used to make their pots. It was also where they tossed their broken pots that were useless to them.  Interesting how we are called ‘vessels of clay’ or we ‘have treasure in earthen vessels‘ referring to our life with Christ as a Born Again Christian. Judas was like one of pots in that field, broken, useless and discarded.  Thank God it’s available to us to have our lives redeemed from being a total loss, broken and discarded to a New Creation in Christ!

Have you ever taken a pottery class?  Have you thought about yourself as an ‘earthen vessel’?  Leave your comment!

Portions taken from The Henry Holt Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson

Field of Blood