Stubborn Stains
Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Zechariah 3:1-10 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).
As a mum of two boys, there is a constant pile of laundry awaiting my attention and I am often found tackling stains from mud, ink, food, or grass in the relentless pursuit of having outfits clean and ready to wear. Sometimes, after an item has been through the wash multiple times and treated with the stain removers I keep in the cupboard, I give up and I ask my mum for help; her success rate is unrivalled!
In today’s reading, we encounter a powerful vision of the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, clothed in filthy garments. We can imagine Satan pointing to Joshua’s soiled attire as evidence that he was unfit to stand in the Lord’s presence, but the Lord rebukes Satan and commands that Joshua’s dirty clothes are removed and replaced with clean, pure, celebratory robes. The verses highlight Satan as the adversary who opposes us in every spiritual battle, yet the Lord stringently limits what he is able to do.
As we continue to prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus—and for His return—the themes of hope, restoration, and the coming of the Messiah found within this passage deeply resonate. In this season of waiting and longing for redemption, Joshua’s cleansing points us to the hope of forgiveness that can only be found in Jesus. This change of clothing symbolises God’s forgiveness of Joshua’s sin and guilt, and his restoration to a position of honour and acceptance.
So, what are the stains we bear? Are we marked by mistakes that we’ve made, greed, dishonesty, lies, or a lack of self-control? Thinking about the stained items we find in our laundry baskets, that no matter how hard we scrub, never come clean, we are reminded that it’s impossible to remove the blemishes caused by our sins on our own. Thankfully, Christ came to defeat sin and evil, offering us robes of righteousness instead of our filthy clothes. So let us prepare our hearts to receive the new life that Jesus offers and be ready to be clothed in His grace, renewed, and restored through Him.