Noah made a mistake. He
planted a vineyard and got drunk. If you
go back to Genesis 2 and 3 you will remember the idea of naked and unashamed
versus naked and ashamed. After sin
entered the world there was a vulnerability to nakedness, something to be
exploited. Exploitation of all things
became possible if it is possible to take that which brings death and which is therefore
evil per se and not have death happen immediately. Ham attempts to exploit the nakedness of his
father, making fun of the heretofore righteous Noah, but his brothers cover
their father (again remember Genesis 3).
The curse of Noah is not, however, on Ham, but on Ham's son,
Canaan. Ultimately, the curse will
remind the Israelites what sort of people the Canaanites are and that God's
curse is upon them while His blessing is on the Shemite line. The land is given to them.
We aren't told the nature of the dispute between John's
disciples and "a Jew" over purification but that was the purpose of
baptism, a rite of purification. The dispute
isn't the important thing but the specter of jealousy over Jesus' rise in
importance. John quickly nips this idea
in the bud by reminding them that it was he who said I am only one sent before
the Christ, not the Christ Himself. One has
only what is given to him from heaven and in that truth we must always
stand. It is sometimes easy to be
jealous or envious of the success of another in this world. Being satisfied with our own place in the
kingdom is difficult for many of us. John's
moment in the sun had ended, he was being eclipsed by Jesus as was
rightful. It is easier to have that
attitude if you're being eclipsed by Messiah but we need to have that same
attitude towards our own lives. John says
we are called to two things, faith and obedience, the way out from under the
curse. Let us rejoice in that great
salvation.
The writer says that sin has been dealt with so disputes
over forgiveness and washings (see the Gospel lesson) are finished, to continue
to argue over such things is to go backwards not forwards. The work of Jesus on the cross is full,
perfect and sufficient for that task. The
specific thing being addressed here in the falling away has nothing to do with
"backsliding", it has to do with this issue of dealing with sin. If we return to some other way of dealing
with sin, dead works, ritual washings, etc., then we have rejected Jesus'
sacrifice as insufficient, and the writer says it is impossible to restore such
a one, suggesting perhaps this is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the
unpardonable sin, because the Holy Spirit testifies the truth. We have all we need in Jesus but we can't
move on to greater knowledge or greater works until we are settled on the issue
of forgiveness. We have been set free
from the curse and if we walk in truth we will walk in the state of
blessedness. Let us settle ourselves as
John did and allow Him to increase in us.
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