“A Change of Clothes”

BIBLE PASSAGE
Zechariah 3:4

“A Change of Clothes” (Chapter 51)
GOSPEL CONNECTION

Do any of you wonder why God told this story about changing the
clothes of one of his priests? It’s definitely a picture of how God
forgives our sins, but it’s even more than that. And the clue that there’s
something more is a strange bit about a “Branch” (Zech. 3:8). What,
or who, is the Branch? The Branch was the better, perfectly holy high
priest who was coming. The prophet said that Joshua in his new, clean
garments looked like this Branch. That promised, future, perfect high
priest is called the “Branch” because he will come from King David’s
family tree. He might look like just one branch on a tree with lots of
branches, but he will do what no high priest has ever done before. He
will “remove the sin of God’s people in a single day” (see Zech. 3:9). Can
you guess who the Branch might be? Yes, it is Jesus, the Snake Crusher!
When he died as a punishment for sin on the cross, that very moment,
on that one day in history, all our sins—past, present, and future—were
paid for. Totally forgiven! This priest took our stinky, filthy clothes and
gave us his clean, perfect clothes.