In Spirit and Fire

John baptized men and women in water, but the Messiah of Israel will baptize in spirit and fire - Matthew 3:11-12.

The Gospel of Mark begins by applying key prophecies to the ministry of John the Baptist. He is the forerunner who prepares the hearts and minds of Israel for the Messiah, and John does so by calling the Jewish nation to repent and baptizing the people “for the remission of sins” - (Isaiah 40:3-5, Mark 1:1-3).

The ministry of John is preparatory. The Messiah is greater than John, and rather than water, he will baptize men and women “in Holy Spirit.” The gospels of Matthew and Luke modify this statement to “in Holy Spirit and fire” – (Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16).

[Photo by Andrey Andreyev (Kiev) on Unsplash]

The Jewish nation must repent and submit to the coming Messiah. If Israel rejects “the coming one,” instead of Spirit-baptism, the nation will experience catastrophe. John warned the religious leaders of Israel of the judgment that would befall them if they refused to radically reorient their lives. The day will come when Christ expels unrepentant men from his kingdom:

• “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of repentance! And do not presume to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children for Abraham! And even now, the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not produce good fruit is cut down and CAST INTO THE FIRE. I baptize you in water for repentance, but he that is coming after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He will baptize you IN HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor. And he will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE” - (Matthew 3:7-12. Note the verbal allusions to Isaiah 4:4, 66:24 and Malachi 4:1).

• “For the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion, and he will purge out the blood from the midst of them, with the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning” - (Isaiah 4:4, the Septuagint).

• “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. And who will abide the day of his coming? Or who will withstand at his appearing? For he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of fullers. He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold. And he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they will offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness” – (Malachi 3:1-3, from the Septuagint version).

John’s baptism in water prepares the way, but it is not God’s final answer to the problems of sin and human nature. In contrast to John’s baptism, the Messiah will immerse his people “in holy spirit and fire,” and the results of his baptism will be permanent (the basic meaning of the Greek verb is “to immerse”).

The gift of the Spirit is an expectation of the last days, and it is foundational to the New Covenant promised in the books of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. By His Spirit, God will circumcise the hearts of His people and write His laws in their hearts - (Deuteronomy 30:6, Isaiah 44:1-4, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27, Joel 2:28-32):

• “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God” – (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

• “This is that which has been spoken through the prophet Joel: AND IT WILL BE IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH. <…> AND IT WILL BE THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” – (Acts 2:16-21, citing Joel 2:28-32 from the Greek Septuagint. Compare Acts 2:38-39).

Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and Son of Man who bestows the gift of the Spirit on his Church and inaugurates the New Covenant through his sacrificial death - (Luke 22:20, 24:46-49, Acts 1:1-8, Hebrews 8:6-13).

“In Holy Spirit and fire” indicates two aspects of the coming baptism in the Holy Spirit. In the Greek clause, ‘spirit and fire’ are not two separate events or baptisms, but one. Only one Greek preposition governs both nouns, or “in” (‘en’ - εν). There is one messianic baptism, but it will be either in Spirit or in fire, and perhaps both.

Together, ‘spirit and fire’ become the direct object of the verb “baptize” or ‘baptizô’, and the verb is in the singular number. Both ‘fire and spirit’ characterize the baptism of the Spirit. It is a baptism of fire-and-spirit.

In the immediate context of John’s warning of potential judgment on Israel (Matthew 3:1-12), “fire” refers to judgment, whether for purification, destruction, or both. The warning applies to individual members and to the whole nation. Men who refuse to repent and produce good fruit are “cut down and cast into the fire.”

The Gospel of Matthew uses the image of fire to portray judgment and destruction, especially the final punishment that awaits unrepentant sinners. This is true of Mark and Luke also – (Matthew 5:22, 7:19, 13:40-50, 18:8-9, 25:41 [“Depart from me into the everlasting fire that is prepared for the Devil and his angels”], Mark 9:43-49, Luke 17:49).

BAPTISM OF FIRE

John describes the coming baptism “in spirit and fire” in response to the Pharisees and Sadducees. They point to their biological relationship with Abraham as justification before God. Instead, they must do the works of righteousness and mercy that demonstrate and flow from genuine repentance. The Hebrew Scriptures demand this very thing of Israel.

• “And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Indeed, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow” - (Isaiah 1:15-17).

The members of the Jewish nation who do not respond with repentance and submission to John’s water baptism will be destroyed by “the axe” of Divine Judgment. However, the men and women who respond to the message with repentance, obedience and faith will experience the baptism in the Spirit.

John’s application of the term “fire” has in view the burning of the “chaff” by the Messiah. The Son of Man will gather his wheat into his barn, but the wicked and unrepentant will be consumed like straw, and with the unquenchable fires of judgment.

• “The lawless men are not so. They are as chaff driven about by the wind. For this cause, the lawless will not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord acknowledges the way of the righteous, but the way of the lawless man will disappear” – (Psalm 1:4-6).

• “As therefore the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be in the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those that do lawlessness. And he will throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth” – (Matthew 13:40-42).

Every man and woman will experience the messianic baptism, singular. For some, it will be a baptism of the Spirit. Jesus has absorbed the fires of judgment on their behalf through his sufferings and death - (Luke 12:49-50, Mark 10:38).

For others, it will be a baptism of fire, whether for purification or destruction. This warning is not just applicable to the Jews who heard John and Jesus, but to all men, including us today. How we respond to Jesus determines life or death.

• “And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out! It is good for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell, WHERE THEIR WORD DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED” – (Mark 9:47-48. Compare Isaiah 66:24).

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Forerunner - (John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah, the herald of the Kingdom of God and the one who baptizes in the Spirit – Mark 1:4-8)

• The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)

• The Gospel Begins - (Redemption and God's Kingdom arrived in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, starting with his baptism by John – Mark 1:1-3)

• Anointed by the Spirit - (Jesus is the anointed Son of God whose life and ministry were characterized by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit)