In A Single Day

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: 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 of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. Zechariah 3:8-9, ESV

IN ZECHARIAH’S TIME, the people of God were beginning a new day. They were back in their homeland, and they were free. But their future was unclear. Among many other concerns, they wondered if they would fall into the old sins that had plagued their forefathers and resulted in their exile, or if their future would be marked by fidelity to God. The Lord gave his prophet Zechariah a series of visions to assure his people that he was working out all aspects of their redemption.

In one of Zechariah’s visions, he saw the reinstatement of a high priest named Joshua. Of course, the Hebrew name Joshua is “Jesus” in Greek. So right away, we sense that Zechariah is being shown something about the Great High Priest who will come. In fact, in the vision, Joshua is told that he and all of the other Old Testament priests are “symbols of things to come” (verse 8, NLT). So Joshua, the priest in Zechariah’s vision, points to the greater Priest to come. But there are key differences.

Joshua’s clothing was filthy because of sin, so God gave him fine new clothes; Jesus was stripped of his clothing as he took our sins upon himself. While a clean “Holy to the LORD” turban was placed on Joshua’s head, a crown of thorns was placed on Jesus’ head. While the Lord rejected the accusations Satan made against Joshua, the Lord willingly laid the guilt of humanity on Jesus. In this way, God “remove[d] the sins of this land in a single day” (verse 9, NLT).

Lord, even as our family prepares to celebrate the day of your Son’s birth, we are mindful of why he was born. He came to earth for this day —the day when you removed the sins of your people by putting them upon him. We praise you and thank you for removing our sin, for removing ________’s sin, and for removing the sin of all your people in a single day through this singular sacrifice.