Now, Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said . . . take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua: “See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel.” Zechariah 3:4  

By grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:5  

Interesting image of the high priest – being dressed in filthy clothes. High priests had beautiful garments to wear, they were never expected to show up in dirty, much less filthy clothes. We all have dirty clothes which need washing. Most of us are blessed with washing machines, and dryers, and plenty of water and soap to clean our clothes. They do get dirty again, of course; but we don’t end up wearing filthy clothes. The implication of filthy is not having cleaned clothes for a very long time.  

In Zechariah the words in verse 3:4 are spoken to Joshua, the high priest who is clad in filthy clothes. Those filthy clothes symbolize the sins committed by the high priest, and by Israel. They have not followed the law that God has given them. However, God does not just reject him as having not done his job correctly. God doesn’t just give up on these people. Rather He speaks through the prophet, to tell Joshua and all the people that their guilt will be taken away from them. Those filthy clothes, their sins and doubts and guilt, will be taken away and replaced with happier festive wear. It doesn’t say that everyone was perfect afterwards, that there were no more sins. Perhaps there was guilt and doubt, but the people had returned to following God.   

Maybe we feel sinful as we have not followed the plans God has for us. There certainly are a variety of rules to follow – we have the Ten Commandments, we have other statements in the Older Testament, and those that Jesus included – like Love God and Love your Neighbor. Do unto others as you would them do unto you. Rules given to us in love and for guidance in our lives and we manage to ignore them many times.  We can get mired down in what-ifs and feel guilty about things done, and not done. We may very well feel dirty or clad in filthy clothes.  

The Good News is that God can remove our doubts, and guilt. He can clothe us in festive clothes, in the clothes of righteousness. He does this daily as we daily confess our sins and try to follow His plan. Even though we can never be perfect enough to earn God’s love and salvation we don’t have to. God has saved us through His grace.  

We are sinners, Lord, and you save us by grace. Thank you, merciful Savior, for taking away our guilt and clothing us in your robes of righteousness. Transform our hearts and minds as you help us to recognize and respond to the opportunities you place before us. Help us share the Good News of your saving grace with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen  

Chris Gabel