Zechariah 3:1-10 (NRSV)
Read Zechariah 3:1-10 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 3Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. Verse 2And the Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?" Verse 3Now Joshua was dressed with filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. Verse 4The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." And to him he said, "See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel." Verse 5And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with the apparel; and the angel of the Lord was standing by. Verse 6Then the angel of the Lord assured Joshua, saying Verse 7"Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.
Verse 8Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch. Verse 9For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. Verse 10On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree."
Devotion
A cold rain kept the kids indoors all day, and when the sun finally broke, they bolted. When they returned, cold and muddy, I sent them to the bathtub. Later, as I scrubbed the tub, I wished I could so easily clean a few pieces of my past. Zechariah tells us that God removes our guilt as a parent cleans up dirty children. We must only come in from the cold. The psalmist shows how: First, call upon the Lord and expect God will hear us; then, rather than trying to clean our own dirty faces, focus on God's righteousness.
Prayer
God of all Righteousness, to you we come, dirtied by sin, embittered by failure, shivering with anxieties. Warm us, wash us, clothe us, and create in us clean hearts, as we trust in the love you sent in your Son. Amen.