LUKE 3:16

     John answered them, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (NIV)

my watercolor of a Torah scroll

  

     John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus,  His purpose was to tell the people, "Repent; the kingdom of God is at hand."  The word, "repent", means turn back to Torah; turn back to God.  John was preaching the need to turn back to God's mandates on how we should live.  People who don't know Christ need to be prepared to meet Him just as John prepared the people in his days. We can prepare people's hearts by explaining the need for forgiveness of sins. This is exactly what the Torah does... It tells us what is and is not acceptable behavior in God's eyes.

John the Baptist told the people that the Messiah would soon appear and that He would baptize not with water, but with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Baptism with the Holy Spirit (fire) would be fulfilled at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would come upon believers, empowering them to proclaim Jesus' life and resurrection in many languages

   

 Baptism by fire also symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing God's judgement upon those who refuse to repent. In the following verse (John 3:17), John warned of the coming judgement, by speaking of the difference between the wheat and the chaff: "... but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire".  I remember hearing a man speak once about exactly what chaff is.  Chaff is the outer husk which comes off the grain when it's harvested.Chaff is useless;  in fact, once it has been separated from the grain, it's worse than useless - it's a nuisance. It is sticky and irritating and very difficult to get rid of.  This reminds me of those little styrofoam "peanuts" sometimes used in packaging. One time a bunch of them got spilled in my yard.  Ugh. They once served a good purpose, but  then they were useless and annoying.  I do not want to be like the chaff.

  

 Baptism by the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) occurred fifty days after the death of Jesus.  The Apostles were together in Jerusalem, as were large crowds of people, as it was the time of an annual feast and celebration of harvest.  "... a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filed all the house where they were sitting... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues." (Acts 2:2 NIV)
     Pentecost had been prophesied by the prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." (Joel 2:28 KJV)  When this occurred there in Jerusalem, the Apostles found that they could be understood by all the foreigners in their midst, "each of them hearing them speak in his own language." (Acts 2:6 NIV)  Peter explained this occurrence to the crowd by referring to Joels' prophesy, which they would have all been familiar with.
     Imagine how amazing that experience must have been!  Pentecost - the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
Are you open to the Holy Spirit?  He speaks YOUR language.

MATTHEW 3:16

  
        "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."   (NIV)

  



  


      There is so much going on in this scripture verse that many books could be written about it.  Some would say that this is the first reference to the idea of the Trinity, but they would be in error.  The first reference to the Trinity is in Genesis, with a look at the beginning of the book of John for further clarification.  Genesis 1:1 reads, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."  Thus, the very first verse of the first book of the Bible refers to God the Father (Creator) and the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of God.  By taking a quick look at the first verse in the book of John, we see another perspective to the creation: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."  Further explanation is found in John 1:14 :"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..."   Thus, the Trinity was present at creation.  Some people have problems with the idea that God is three-in-one - Trinity.  The best way I can explain it is that I am a mother,  I am a daughter, and I am a wife.  All three are me;  I am all three.

       Matthew 3:16 refers to the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  As Malachi foretold,  John the Baptist appeared preaching the imminent arrival of Christ: "After me comes He who is mightier than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie." (Mark 1:7)  Imagine how John must have felt when Jesus appeared and asked to be baptized!  The only sin-free person to ever walk this earth, asking John to baptize Him! John replied, "You should be baptizing me." But Jesus persisted, and was baptized.



  
    The sacrament of baptism is not a new thing.  From ancient days came the ritual cleansing of God's chosen people, the Jews, before they could enter the temple.  This was called a "mikvah"; and, Jewish people still use this term today.  A mikvah  is always done in moving water (living water) such as a river or stream.  And, the person dunked himself, while being observed by a priest or rabbi.   Nowadays, most people consider baptism a spiritual bath through which believers are sanctified and washed in the name of Jesus; and, baptism is performed only after a public declaration of faith in Jesus as ones' personal Saviour.
  

      When I was in Israel in 2006,  even though I had already been baptized many years prior, I took the opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River - the very river where John baptized Jesus.  I was struck by the fact that white doves were flying around, going in and out of the trees along the river banks.  What a beautiful visual metaphor for this scripture!  It was easy to imagine the heavens opening up and the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove.

      John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus baptized many, many people.  But, the scriptures clearly state that Jesus never performed a baptism with water.  I wonder why... Perhaps it was because He knew how the hearts of men are, and realized that people would somehow think they were better because they were baptized by the Master?  Or, perhaps it was simply because He had so many disciples;  He was the overseer, and they did the baptism in His name?  Or maybe it was because He was destined to baptize in a much greater way, as proclaimed by John the Baptist:  "I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:8)