April 3, 2026 – Good Friday Tenebrae Text: Zechariah 3:1-10
Dear Friends in Christ,
Back in the 1980’s TV preachers were big business and quite well known. In my last year of seminary, I wrote my 25-page dissertation on their theology. To say most of it was unbiblical or came up short would be an understatement. But another problem was their public lives. Names like Swaggart and Baker and others were exposed for their behavior. It certainly affected how the nominal Christian and unbeliever looked at the Church.
If Satan can get the spiritual leader, it will help His cause. Tonight, we see Satan go after the high priest Joshua. Satan was the prosecutor in God’s supreme court. But the Lord was on Joshua’s side, and the charges were dismissed. It is Good Friday and sins are . . .
“GONE IN A SINGLE DAY”
Let’s remember that the name Joshua is a form of the name Jesus. This is the vision. Joshua is before the angel of the Lord and Satan is there to accuse him. Joshua is human so Satan has some good material to draw from. What might he have done in boyhood? How about any foolish actions as an adolescent? Mistakes as Israel’s religious leader? Evil thoughts that lurked in his heart? As I wrote this sermon it brought up my own indiscretions in life. How would I fare in the courtroom?
The truth is. Satan owned you and I. The accusations can stick, because they are all true. “Look at the evidence judge. Many people can testify how they have been hurt by the defendant’s selfish actions. I have audio of the defendant’s less than holy language. Here is a list of worship services missed because something else was more appealing. As for the defendant’s thoughts, well, we don’t want to be here all day. You have to convict.”
The text said Joshua stood in the court with “filthy garments.” Our garments don’t look or smell any better. What was the Lord going to do with Joshua’s “filthy garments?” The text says, “Remove the filthy garments from him…Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” (v. 4)
Pure vestments. This formerly filthy felon looks like a dignified high priest. More important, he is declared holy – he can appear in the presence of the Holy Judge.
Your filthy clothes have been taken away; Jesus himself will now wear them. In exchange, Jesus dresses you in his own spotless garments; they are now your new wardrobe. The prosecutor’s charges are dismissed.
Here is the clear reference to Good Friday, verse 9, “I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.” It can also be translated, “I will remove the sin of the earth in a single day.” That is why we are here to give thanks this day. Every person’s sin…every Pastor’s sin…removed on a single day…by a single sacrifice…by a single Savior who snatched us burning sticks out of the fire. The judge has rendered his verdict, and will not change his mind. You are acquitted. You are forgiven. You are dressed in the clean garments of Christ’s righteousness.
The text concludes, “In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” (v. 10). Jesus is excited to bring us to the place he has been preparing for us since his ascension. It is a place where we will be safe, where we and our neighbor will sit under the vine and fig tree in perfect peace, where we will eat from the tree of life and live forever.
You can extend that invitation now. Let your neighbor know that under the cross of Christ there is forgiveness; under the vine of Christ there is abundant fruit; and under the fig tree of Christ there is cooling shade from the hot, harsh, hostile world.
Satan went after the supreme Shepherd, the highest Priest, on Good Friday, hoping to make him fall. Had Jesus failed, we would be forever wearing filthy clothes, disqualified from a home in God’s holy heaven. Instead, Satan failed, while Jesus succeeded in removing the sin of the world in a single day. The price has been paid. It is finished! Your new forever home is waiting.
Amen.