Zechariah 3:1-10 "The Ugliest Picture Is The Most Beautiful Picture

Introduction: This is one of the ugliest pictures in the -- and one of the most beautiful! It is an ugly picture, that when truly understood, is stunning in its beauty. And we need to see what God has to say about beauty because false views of beauty are oppressive. This passage shows us how the cross deconstructs and reconstructs the idea of beauty. Our view of beauty and drives us, both men and women, in many ways.

1. Seventeen refers to itself as a girl's Bible...Girls of all ages get the message that they must be flawlessly beautiful, and, above all these days, they must be thin. Even more destructively, they get the message that this is possible, that, with enough effort and self-sacrifice [and the right products], they can achieve this ideal...Advertising constantly promotes the core belief of American culture: that we can re-create ourselves, transform ourselves, transcend our circumstances -- but with a twist. For generations Americans believed this could be achieved if we worked hard enough... Today the promise is that we can change our lives instantly, effortlessly -- by winning the lottery, selecting the right mutual fund, having a fashion makeover, losing weight, having tighter abs, buying the right car or soft drink. It is this belief that such transformation is possible that drives us... This American belief that we can transform ourselves makes advertising images much more powerful than they otherwise would be." Jean Kilbourne (from “Can’t Buy My Love”)

2. At a benefit the other night, I saw Andrea Dworkin, the anti-porn activist most famous in the eighties for her conviction that opening the floodgates of pornography would lead men to see real women in sexually debased ways. If we did not limit pornography, she argued—before Internet technology made that prospect a technical impossibility—most men would come to objectify women as they objectified porn stars, and treat them accordingly. In a kind of domino theory, she predicted, rape and other kinds of sexual mayhem would surely follow. …So was she right or wrong? She was right about the warning, wrong about the outcome. As she foretold, pornography did breach the dike that separated a marginal, adult, private pursuit from the mainstream public arena. The whole world, post-Internet, did become pornographized. Young men and women are indeed being taught what sex is, how it looks, what its etiquette and expectations are, by pornographic training—and this is having a huge effect on how they interact. But the effect is not making men into raving beasts. On the contrary: The onslaught of porn is responsible for deadening male libido in relation to real women, and leading men to see fewer and fewer women as “porn-worthy.” Far from having to fend off porn-crazed young men, young women are worrying that as mere flesh and blood, they can scarcely get, let alone hold, their attention. Here is what young women tell me on college campuses when the subject comes up: They can’t compete, and they know it. For how can a real woman—with pores and her own breasts and even sexual needs of her own (let alone with speech that goes beyond “More, more, you big stud!”)—possibly compete with a cybervision of perfection, downloadable and extinguishable at will, who comes, so to speak, utterly submissive and tailored to the consumer’s least specification? Naomi Wolf (“The Porn Myth”)

3. “We do not want merely to see beauty, though God knows, even that is beauty enough. We want something else which we can hardly put into words – to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it… C.S. Lewis

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me standing before the angel of the LORD, and standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen , rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." 5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by. 6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. 8 "'Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. 10 "'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty."

I. The Scene Is Set Joshua the High Priest is standing before the Angel of the Lord who really is the Lord (see how the "angel" speaks as the Lord through the passage.) What is going on? Zechariah, who is a priest and a prophet recognizes the scene, it is the High Priest ministering before the Lord in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, the one day that the High Priest would stand before God. But Satan the accuser is there as well! And as we continue to look we are shocked to see that the High Priest is standing before the Lord not in clean white linen robes but in robes covered in filth (the Hebrew uses the word for excrement! see Deut 23:13, Eze 4:12.) It's bad enough that he's covered in filth -- but this is not how you want to approach the Lord! Imagine showing up at your wedding in clothes covered in excrement, or for your job interview covered in dung! It is an image of audacity! And not only is the High Priest seen as filthy -- but all those he represents are seen as filthy. The priest represents all of God's people and thus it was vital that he be clean – especially on this day!

II. The High Priest's Preparation For The Day Of Atonement When we understand the rituals that accompanied the Day of Atonement, and the High Priest’s preparations for that day, we see even more how shocking this scene is! (Thanks to OT Prof. Ray Dillard for this background information)

A. He was isolated for a week from his family before the Day, he stayed in a special little apartment connected to the temple so that he wouldn't come into contact with anything unclean.

B. The night before the Day, he pulled an "all-nighter" He kept a prayer vigil, and his fellow priests would pray with him and for him, to encourage him. And he would practice the rituals over and over to get it just perfect!

C. He would begin the cleansing rituals at sunrise. Throughout this day he would bathe himself in public 5 times! (behind a linen screen) and would wash his hands and feet at least 10 times! All of this in public so that could be sure that the one who would represent them was pure!

D. He wore special clothes. Every day he offered sacrifices he wore brightly colored robes, but on this day he wore pure, white, linen robes.

III. But Then Comes The Real Shock! Imagine Zechariah's horror when he sees the high priest standing before God filthy -- what audacity?! But there is something even more shocking that happens! The Lord silences the accuser by taking away the basis for his accusations! Grace is not God winking at sin, it is His removal of the basis of the condemnation.

A. First the Lord rebukes the accuser -- He says this the burning stick I have plucked from the fire, the one I have chosen to set my love upon. In effect He says, "Satan how dare you? That's my boy or that's my girl you're talking about! How precious was this for God’s people to hear , now, after the exile, when it seemed God must have hated them. He says, these are my people!

B. Then He removes the filthy clothes, and clothes him in rich garments One commentator says, "The removal of the filthy garments silenced the accuser, making his charge baseless, because the Supreme Judge has done the unthinkable -- He has removed the guilt of the people by a sovereign act of grace. Not only do the angels remove the soiled garments, they replace them with rich finery. The high priest now stands in splendor, not abject shame."

C. And they put a white turban on his head, (vs. 5) Why? This is not the hat a priest would wear it is a royal head- covering -- it is a picture not just of being cleansed but of being made a king!

IV. But Is This Just A Temporary Cleansing? (look at vs 6-7) Sure he has been given the crown but there seems to be a catch doesn't there? It says that he must walk in the Lord's ways and keep His commandments -- so what's to keep him from becoming filthy again? How do we know that this is not just a temporary cleansing? Because while this is a beautiful picture -- it is a sign of an even more beautiful reality! Verse 8 says this is symbolic of something that is still to come! And we are called to pay special attention to this ("listen" vs. 8)

1. God is going to bring His servant the branch ( a Messianic image) 2. He is going to remove the sin of the land in a single day! How can this be?

Zechariah must have wanted to cry out, "But Lord -- we have had to offer morning and evening sacrifices every single day! And the Day of Atonement has had to repeated every year for over a thousand years!!!” But God says, "Zechariah, I am going to take away the people's sin in a single day! There will be no more need for any sacrifices!” How can this happen?

V. Only Through Jesus! Who is the only High Priest who ever dared to stand before God in the Holy of Holies clothed in filthy rags? It is Jesus the Branch (Joshua is Jesus in Hebrew!) He is the one who has kept the Lord's commands and walked in His ways, He too had a final week of preparation, He too had an all-night vigil -- but instead of being prayed for and supported by his friends -- they fell asleep and betrayed Him with a kiss! For Him it was not a night of encouragement it was a night of beating. And think of his special clothes: He wore not white linen, but the mocking purple robe of a king. He wore a special hat too -- But his was a crown of thorns! And He had a public bath -- as He was spat upon! That was our high priest. What the Law couldn't do after thousands of sacrifices, this filthy, broken one did in a single day! The only High Priest who ever stood before the throne of God filthy, filthy because he was covered in our excrement was Jesus and God obliterated Him! God destroyed Him so that you could be clean -- so that His people's sins could be wiped away in a single day!!! His boldness gives birth to your boldness -- you can stand in His sight clean and beautiful because Jesus dared to stand in His presence covered in ugliness and filth!

Discussion Questions Spend time reflecting on Hebrews 9 and 10 and gazing on Jesus in prayer. 1. Hymns are so great at calling us to gaze upon Jesus -- what do you use your imagination for? 2. How can understanding this text make you both bold and humble? 3. What are ways we try to make ourselves beautiful to God and others? 4. What is more beautiful to you than Jesus? 5. Memorize 2Cor 5:21. How does this passage further enlighten Zechariah 3:1-10?