Clothing, Cleansing, and Commissioning
zechariah
Main Idea: Christ has clothed us in righteousness, cleansed us from sin, and commissioned us as royal priests.
I. Dirty Clothes (3:1-3)
The prophet Zechariah is given a vision of a heavenly courtroom scene, where Joshua (the high priest) stands before the Lord, with “Satan” (lit. ‘the accuser’ or ‘the adversary’) standing ready to accuse (cf. Rev. 12:9-10; Job 1-2).
Satan does not even need to make a case against Joshua, however, because he is “clothed with filthy garments” (cf. Isa. 28:8; 64:6; Deut. 23:13). Since the high priest was to be the representative of the people before a holy and righteous God, Joshua is clearly unfit for this work, meaning the people also stand condemned.
Joshua, representing Jerusalem and God’s people, is compared to a “brand (stick) plucked from the fire.” Though they had returned to the land from the purifying fires of exile, they needed to return in their hearts to the Lord (cf. 1:3-6). Their return from exile was the beginning of a gracious “rebuke” against the accuser.
II. Righteous Robes (3:4-5)
Before the accuser begins his attack, the “angel of the Lord” orders that Joshua’s filthy garments be removed, a powerful picture of the promise: “I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments” (cf. Isa. 61:10; Lk. 15:22; Rev. 7:9, 14; 19:8). His external cleansing is a symbol of his internal cleansing from sin.
This “angel of the Lord” is likely the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus, who “lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25) on behalf of God’s people:
Romans 8:33-34: Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
1 John 2:1: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
It is before Christ that sin is to be confessed. Confess it anywhere else, your sorrow is not repentance but remorse… Remorse is repentance made out of sight of Jesus; true repentance is sorrow of sin in the presence of Christ. Foul and filthy as you are, there is but one voice which can speak you clean. Go not away from that voice. There is but one hand which can touch you and make you pure; stand where that hand is close to you, and still, filthy as your garments are, shun not the face of your best, your only friend.
~ Charles Spurgeon, “Zechariah’s Vision of Joshua the High Priest”
III. Royal Priests (3:6-10)
As Joshua and his “friends” (priests) are (re)commissioned to serve as priests they were a “sign” (3:8) of greater realities God would bring about:
The temple would be restored, signifying Yahweh’s commitment to his promises and his people (cf. 4:10)
The Lord would send his servant, “the Branch” (cf. Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:14-26), a messianic, royal, Davidic figure.
The “iniquity of the land” will be removed in a “single day” (cf. Lev. 16; Zech. 12:10; 13:1)
Hebrews 10:1–4, 11-14: For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins… And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
In that “day” (of the Lord) after all of this is accomplished, the priests will “invite his neighbor” to come into a renewed land of peace (1 Ki. 4:25; Mic. 4:4). Zechariah will later prophesy that these “neighbors” are the nations themselves coming to the New Jerusalem on the Day of the Lord (2:11; 8:20-23, 14:16).
Zechariah’s vision of Joshua is a small picture of the greater experience of all God’s people; by faith, we have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, cleansed from sin by Christ’s finished work, and commissioned as a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9) in Christ’s coming Kingdom, inviting others to share in the blessings of salvation.
So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!
~ Martin Luther
