Introduction:
How Jesus Removes the Filth of Sin (Zechariah 3:1-10):
- He Rebukes your Accuser. (Zech 3:1-2)
- He Replaces your Dirty Laundry . (Zech 3:3-5)
- He Rewards your Obedience . (Zech 3:6-7)
- He Reunites you with Himself . (Zech 3:8-10)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Amen. Well, good morning.
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Let's pray together before we get started.
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Lord God, what an amazing morning already.
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Thank you for what you're doing this morning, God, and I just pray that as we turn to your word, that we would just be open to receive it, Lord, and that you would give me your grace, God, the blessing to be able to communicate it clearly.
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So please just bless the rest of our time this morning together.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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Open your Bibles with me please to Zechariah chapter 3.
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And for those of you who don't know me, my name is Justin.
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I'm married to my lovely wife Michelle, and we're blessed with three amazing daughters.
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And a few years ago, before my third daughter was born, we were on the last day of a family trip and we all went out to breakfast before we were going to head over to the airport.
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Well, actually, I should ask at this point, is everyone okay with me being real today?
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Is that okay?
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Because this story is about to get real life.
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So, we're talking, we're laughing about the trip, breakfast is going great, everything's fine.
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But then I notice across the table that one of my daughters has stopped eating.
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So I asked her if she felt okay, and she got down, walked over to me, and the next thing I knew, her breakfast was back up and on the floor.
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Now, I'm sure that many here have been in a similar situation at some point.
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You're away from home, you have a sick kid, your first thought is, "Is she okay?" Right? That's the only thing that you care about.
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But once it seems like she is okay, you start wondering, "Was it the food? Was it something we did yesterday?
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Can we still make it home?
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Is she done?"
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(Laughter)
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And I would love to tell you that she was done, and the rest of the trip was smooth sailing.
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But as every parent here would correctly guess, she wasn't done.
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And on the way to the airport, her sister joined in by throwing up all over me.
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So now we have two sick kids, otherwise acting totally normal, by the way.
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And we're just scrambling now to get everybody through security and get them home.
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And I would love to tell you that by the time we got to the gate, they were done.
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Parents, were they done?
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No, no, no, no.
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Because sitting at the gate, we had another incident.
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This time it went all over Michelle.
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So the luggage is already checked.
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So, we're about to board, and I am literally sprinting back through the airport, trying to find one of those pairs of souvenir sweatpants that my wife can change into before the plane takes off.
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And, Church, I would love to tell you
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(Laughter)
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that once we got on the plane, they were done.
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Sean, were they done?
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No.
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No, they weren't.
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You're probably wondering, "How much did they eat for breakfast?" Well, we got on the plane, each of us took a kid on our lap, and honestly, I lost track of how many times it happened on that flight.
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I did learn that it's almost impossible for kids under three to aim into those air sickness bags.
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It was all over me.
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And thinking back, I'm actually so proud of them because they never complained, not once.
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They were incredibly brave, but they were just alternating between being asleep in our arms and waking up to let some more out.
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Now, thankfully, we did make it home, and the next day, everybody was fine.
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(Laughter)
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So, I do apologize to anyone who's now queasy, but why did I tell you that story?
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The reason is, in doing my job as a parent that day, I was filthy.
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I mean, my shirt and my jeans were crispy from everything drying up.
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I could not wait to get myself cleaned up and get into some clean clothes.
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And even in very different situations, we know that feeling, right?
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After doing yard work all day, or going for a run, or hitting the gym, whatever it is, and you're like, "I'm pretty filthy right now." And if we're honest, sometimes we even have that feeling beyond the cleanliness of our body or our clothing, because sometimes we can feel the filth of sin.
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Can't we?
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And I'm not talking about the sin that's all around us, though we do feel that.
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I'm talking about, personally, when we look at our past, mistakes we've made, things we've done, even something that we're struggling to stop doing right now, and we think, I can't go to God like this, or I can't go to church like this.
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Can I even call myself a follower of Jesus when I'm this filthy?
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And if you've ever felt that way, I'm gonna give you basically the entire sermon up front.
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God sent someone to remove the filth of sin, his son, Jesus Christ, amen?
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And even though we read about Jesus accomplishing his work on the cross in the New Testament, God often explained exactly what Jesus would accomplish beforehand in the Old Testament.
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And we're gonna see an example of that from Zechariah.
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we're going to see how Jesus removes our sin and what that means for us.
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But before we jump into scripture, there are a few things that you do need to know.
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So prior to the time of Zechariah, God allowed Jerusalem to be conquered and the Israelites were taken captive to Babylon.
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Many years later, by God's hand, Israel was allowed to return to their land.
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And Zechariah was actually in that first group of Israelites who left Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
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And it was during that rebuilding era that Zechariah started receiving prophetic visions from God.
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And we're going to read one today.
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So on your outline, how Jesus removes the filth of sin.
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Number one, he rebukes your accuser.
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So, Zechariah chapter three in verse one.
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"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest "standing before the angel of the Lord "and Satan standing at his right to accuse him.
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"And the Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan.
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"The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you.
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Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?
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Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.
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Stop there.
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This vision feels like a courtroom scene, doesn't it?
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On the stand, so to speak, is Joshua the high priest.
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And we know from Ezra 3 that this Joshua is, not surprisingly, Israel's high priest at the time.
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He was their leader and representative.
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Now, the judge in this scene is the angel of the Lord.
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Who's that?
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Well, in the Old Testament, "the angel of the Lord" typically refers to a pre-incarnate Jesus, meaning Jesus appeared in this vision before he was born to Mary.
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And that is a Bible study in itself, and I do not mean to breeze by it.
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But you actually don't even have to trust me on that, because notice right here in verse two that as the angel of the Lord speaks, your Bible reads, "And the Lord said." So from that and from later verses that we're going to see, we can definitely make that connection.
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So Joshua's on trial, Jesus is the judge, and lastly, we have the prosecutor, Satan.
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The Bible tells us that Satan accuses God's people day and night.
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So bringing accusations like this is right in his wheelhouse.
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What did he accuse Joshua of doing? Well, the Bible doesn't say, other than pointing out his filthy clothes, which symbolize sin that we all have. But what the Bible does tell us is how the judge, Jesus, responded. He said, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan." Okay, gavel hit, court adjourned, whatever Satan's case against Joshua was, it's thrown out.
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But why? It wasn't because Joshua gave a great defense.
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He didn't say anything. But when Jesus spoke, he gave the reason that it was case closed.
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He said, "The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you." And this is crazy because Jesus, as the judge, is saying the verdict isn't based on what Joshua did.
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It's based on what Jesus did in choosing Joshua.
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He chose Joshua, he chose Jerusalem, he chose Israel as his people.
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And so Jesus says to Satan, it doesn't even matter what your accusation is.
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We're done here because he is mine.
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The Bible says we love because he first loved us, amen?
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And Jesus continues in verse two, "Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" And you know, when I first read this, I thought he was making a threat.
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Maybe I was fired up for some other reason, but I thought he was saying, "Listen, Satan, I chose Jerusalem.
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So if you want a piece of Joshua, you gotta go through me.
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Am I not holding a flaming torch right now?
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You want some of this?
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Well, thankfully, Jesus is God and I am not.
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And that is not what he's saying.
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Jesus is not talking about a literal burning stick from a fire.
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He's talking about Joshua.
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Joshua was in the fire of Babylon, in the fire of God's judgment against Israel.
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And God reached into that fire and pulled him out, filthy clothes and all.
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And that extends to all of Israel too.
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They were exiled to Babylon because of their sin, but rescued from Babylon because of God's grace.
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So this scene was an incredible message to send to Israel.
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But what does all of this mean for us today?
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Well, just like Joshua, we are accused, day and night.
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Have you ever felt accused?
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Have you ever felt or heard those charges against you that feel like they're coming from the inside?
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Things like, "You let your family down again." Or, "I feel like a failure. Actually, I know that I'm a failure." Or, "Look at your anger, lust, greed, fill in the blank.
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What's wrong with you?" Well, just like in a court case, sometimes the accusations we hear are flat-out lies.
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But sometimes they're true, and sometimes even backed by evidence.
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memories of when we fell short or when we gave in to a temptation to sin.
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But just like Joshua, for those who believe, the verdict isn't based on us. And our accuser always leaves that part out. So when you hear that voice of accusation in your head, you can respond even out loud with the truth. Jesus chose me. He knew I would sin and yet just like Israel was rescued from Babylon, he rescued me from the judgment of exile that I deserved.
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The first step here in Jesus removing the filth of our sin is removing those accusations because instead of living in the depression of past mistakes, we can live in joy because if you have repented and you believe in Jesus, your salvation is based on what he did, not what you did. But wait a second, Justin, wait a second.
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So Jesus knows about all this filth and he still throws out the accusations against me, but does that mean that Jesus is just cool with my sin? That when I I come to Jesus, he leaves me as I am and I can just do whatever I want? I realized no one was actually thinking that. But regardless, Jesus is not done here. Point number two today, how Jesus removes the filth of sin. He replaces your dirty laundry. So let's go back to the text and we'll pick up in verse 3.
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Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.
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And the angel said to those who were standing before him, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." Pause there.
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Remember, the filthy garments on Joshua represent sin.
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As Jesus orders the filthy garments removed, he's saying that the iniquity or the sin of Joshua and Israel by extension is removed.
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But notice in verse 4, the angel of the Lord, who we know is Jesus, says, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." So the removal of filthy clothes symbolizes the removal of sin, and giving Joshua clean clothes symbolizes Joshua being made pure by receiving Jesus' righteousness.
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But do we need both?
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Think about it this way.
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Just a few months ago, it's garbage night, and the way that our garage is situated, I just have to pull my car out to get to the cans.
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So I'm backing up, but I hear, "Thud, thud, thud." That doesn't sound good.
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So I get out, and I see that the front tire on the driver's side is completely flat.
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I'm thinking, "Okay, I'll put the spare on, and call about a new tire in the morning.
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The problem is, for some reason, the previous owner of my car had wheel locks put on, and put on so tightly that even with me yanking and pulling and eventually jumping on the wrench, I couldn't get the lug nut to budge, so I can't get the wheel off.
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The next morning, I call roadside, I explain the situation.
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This guy shows up with a super drill and takes the wheel lock off in two seconds.
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At least I tell myself it was a super drill.
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And then we put the spare on and we go to admire our work and the spare is completely flat.
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So the guy asks me, "Do you have an air pump?" And I'm like, "No.
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Don't you have an air pump?" And he's like, "No, you might make it to a gas station now." And he left.
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Now eventually my neighbor bailed me out because he did have a pump, but back to Jesus removing our sin.
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See, if Jesus removed our sin and stopped there, it would be just like the guy who removed my flat tire.
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Sure, the flat tire was removed, but with a flat replacement, I still can't drive anywhere.
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I needed a replacement of the problem with a solution.
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And that replacement is exactly what Zechariah is seeing Joshua receive.
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For Joshua, and today for anyone who comes to Jesus, Jesus removes their sin, taking it upon himself and replaces the sin with his righteousness. There is no better exchange in the history of the universe. And yet, during this incredible picture of the redemption of Joshua and Israel and of salvation itself, Zechariah interrupts. Take a look at verse five. And I said, I being Zechariah, let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. Now this was not just fashion advice. This comes from Exodus chapter 28. The short version is, the turban was the part of the priestly wardrobe that assured Zechariah Israel's redemption was totally complete.
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And with all of this clothing symbolism and background, that's what led me to title this point kind of tongue-in-cheek with the phrase "dirty laundry." Everybody's heard that, right?
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Your dirty laundry is simply all the stuff in your life that you don't want anyone else to see.
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to stuff that you'd rather stayed hidden.
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And while you may face earthly consequences for those things, eternally speaking, your dirty laundry is exactly the kind of stuff that Jesus forgives and removes.
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And even more than that, because just like Joshua, your dirty laundry is what Jesus replaces with his righteousness.
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And there's so much going on in this passage in terms of Israel, the priesthood, the law, the prophecy.
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But the takeaway for us is that through salvation, Jesus exchanges our sin for his perfection.
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And we can be assured of that.
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You don't have to wonder, you don't have to worry.
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Because of what Jesus did and that exchange, if you know him, you are forgiven and accepted by him.
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Amen?
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but it doesn't stop there.
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Point number three, how Jesus removes the filth of sin.
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He rewards your obedience.
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So let's pick up in verse six.
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And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, thus says the Lord of hosts.
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Before we move on, notice the change in speaker.
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The angel of the Lord is now speaking on behalf of the Lord of hosts.
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So we're hearing the words of God the Father now.
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Back to verse seven.
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts.
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And I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.
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So very simply, God tells Joshua, if you obey, then I will reward you.
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We know how that works.
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If you eat your vegetables, then you can have dessert, right?
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If you sign up for our emails, then you get 10% off your first order, right?
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Come on, you've been there.
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So what's Joshua's if then?
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If you will walk in my ways.
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That's living your life the way that God commands.
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If you keep my charge.
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In this context, the word charge indicates a duty of ministry.
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Remember, Joshua was the high priest, so he has a ministry over all of Israel.
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And if Joshua does those things, then what happens?
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"You shall rule my house and have charge of my courts." Now, God's earthly house was the temple.
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Joshua must obey to continue to serve as the high priest in the temple.
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It also says, "I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here." And this vision is in a heavenly setting.
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So not only will Joshua access God's house on earth, Joshua's obedience will also give him access to heaven.
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Right? Hold up.
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Hold up.
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Didn't we just talk about assurance?
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The accusations against Joshua were thrown out.
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His filthy clothes were replaced, and now he's clean in the eyes of God.
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So is God now saying our obedience is what gets us into heaven?
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The answer of course is no.
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Once you believe and Jesus replaces your sin with his righteousness, it's a done deal.
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From scripture and from the order of events that we see here, it's not if you obey, then you are saved.
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It's if you are saved, then you obey.
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We certainly don't obey perfectly.
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Even though we are credited with Jesus' righteousness, we still are attached to a sinful flesh in a world of sin, and we stumble.
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But we talked about how God chose us.
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Obedience is where we choose Him.
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Jesus Himself says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." because, praise God, he's not done with us at the point of salvation. From that point forward, he is continually transforming us to be more and more like his Son, to be more and more obedient. And like we see here, further blessings come from further obedience. And we tend to focus on material blessings, which absolutely do come from the Lord. But what a reward the transformation that we experience is just in itself. And now we're going to see the fulfillment of that transformation process in our final point. Point number four, how Jesus removes the filth of sin. He reunites you with himself. We're going to pick up in verse 8.
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"Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are assigned. Behold, I will bring my servant the branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree. Now if you're like me, you probably have about 17 questions about what we just read. But let's start with me asking you a Jesus, that's right, Jesus, #SundaySchool, right?
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Remember, God the Father is speaking, and when he says he's going to bring the branch here, he is in fact talking about Jesus.
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And the terms here are actually even more loud and clear than we realize at first, because the servant, the branch, the stone.
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All of these are used throughout Old Testament prophecy to describe the promised Messiah.
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So question two of Apostle 17.
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I want to ask you to answer this one.
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Why does the stone have seven eyes?
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And there are differing views on this.
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In the Bible, the number seven symbolizes perfection and completeness.
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So some see this as pointing to the omniscience of Jesus. He sees and knows everything.
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Some see it as Jesus' ability to perfectly watch over his church. Some see it as a prophecy that the Holy Spirit will come upon him to enable his earthly ministry. Whatever your particular view is, the point is Jesus was sent with the power of God to accomplish his work.
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Jesus was empowered by God to be the greatest gift that was ever given to mankind.
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And you know, I recently gave my wife a gift.
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Obviously a very different kind of gift. It was not perfectly complete, and it didn't have seven eyes. It was a piece of jewelry and I had it engraved. I made that decision to make it more personal and, I hope, more beautiful for her. And God says here that on His gift, on the stone, He would engrave an inscription and remove the iniquity of the land in a single Now, Zechariah did not know what day that would be, but at our point in history, we know what day that was.
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The day that Jesus died on the cross.
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That day, man engraved Jesus' body with nails that kept him hanging there, the crown of thorns that dug into his head and the spear that pierced his side. And as his wrath poured out, God did engrave an inscription on the stone. God wrote, "Sin is removed." And it was the most beautiful engraving in history because by his sacrifice, Jesus removed our sin. Amen? The promise of this scripture was fulfilled and the sins of anyone who would ever trust in Jesus were removed in a single day. And because of that, we also see the second promise fulfilled. "In that day," declares the Lord of hosts, "every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree. This is a biblical picture of peace and safety and through Jesus our sin is removed and we have been peacefully reunited with God today. But we also await this promise's final fulfillment when Jesus returns to remove the sin of all creation and make all things new and And all believers will enjoy eternal peace and safety reunited with Him in heaven.
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And so as we close, I just want to ask myself and anyone who knows Jesus, do we live like Jesus removed our sin?
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Maybe a better question is, what does living like that even look like?
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As one example, we talked earlier about feeling accused.
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When you get hit with those accusations of the enemy, respond with the truth.
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You are chosen and loved by Jesus.
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And while we are not perfect, He is.
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Or maybe you're just feeling filthy, whether it's guilt from the past or maybe you're battling a sin issue right now.
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Through the sin replacement that we talked about, Jesus is calling you back to obedience today.
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It's time to let Him remove the filth.
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Choose Him every day.
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Amen?
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And lastly, know that you are reunited with your Creator now and have the ultimate hope of peace and safety in heaven.
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Is there someone that you know who could use that peace?
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Can you think of a neighbor to invite under your vine and fig tree, to borrow a phrase?
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Instead of letting our sin remove Jesus from our lives, let's live like Jesus removed our sin.
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Amen?
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Pray with me, please.
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Lord God, we thank you so much for sending your Son, God.
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We thank you that you empowered Jesus to remove our sin, and when he came to earth and died on the cross, Lord, he accomplished that work.
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God, I thank you for the freedom, the peace and safety that we have through the exchange of sin for the righteousness of Jesus.
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And God, I pray this week and as we move forward in all of our walks with you, God, that we would always be cognizant of that and you would continue to draw us closer and closer to yourself and to draw others to receive that same replacement and that same peace, God.
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We give you all the glory and pray this in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Zechariah 3:1-10
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Have you ever felt accused by the enemy? In light of this passage, how should we respond to those accusations?
Why is it important that both our sin is removed and we receive the righteousness of Jesus?
Why do we usually view obedience as a chore rather than a blessing in itself? Do you have any personal examples of obedience leading to further blessing?
How has the prophecy of Zech 3:8-10 been fulfilled already, and how has it yet to be fulfilled?
Breakout
Pray for one another.