Luke 3:16 Commentary and Bible Study

Matthew notes (Matthew 3:6) that John was baptizing in the Jordan river, but he does not record the question put by the Pharisees and recorded in John’s Gospel: ‘Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?’ (John 1:25). John’s answer, here however, apparently takes that question into account, when he says, ‘I indeed baptize you with water’, wording which seems to acknowledge such a question. John is eager to draw a distinction between himself and the Lord Jesus Christ, and between their two baptisms. John is baptizing with water; it is a symbolic baptism which does not in itself accomplish anything. Its effectiveness relies on the one being baptized exercising faith and understanding the meaning of the symbol. It is a sign of death to the old life and rising to the new; it is a sign of complete washing away of sins. When understood and when carried out in obedience to God, John’s baptism was accompanied by repentance, for no one could come to have their sins washed away, even symbolically, unless they intend to make an end of sin, otherwise it was a false picture. John was preparing the hearts of the people for the one who would come after him.But the Messiah works in an entirely different way. John is not to be compared with him, for John is only the forerunner who prepares the way and then steps aside. His ministry is temporary; all its power comes from the power of the one who is after him. Although he is sent by God to make ready the hearts of the people lest God reject them out of hand, John is a mere prophet, while Christ is the incarnate Son of God. John is a man with a fallen human nature; Christ is both God and man and completely without sin. John is not worthy to carry the Messiah’s shoes, the most lowly part of a person, for even that most lowly part of such an exalted person is far above even the greatest of prophets to arise in the Old Testament (Luke 7:28).The Messiah also has a baptism but it is altogether greater than John’s baptism. John deals in symbols, but Christ deals in realities. The Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world to bring about the fulfilment of all types and shadows. He does not work at the level of symbols or types and shadows, but in him all types are at an end. What he does shows the meaning of all divine pictures and symbols – and water baptism is certainly a picture. Scripture is careful to say that although Christ’s disciples baptized with water, he did not (John 4:2). There is a symbolic ordinance for the church – baptism – but Christ himself baptizes only with the Spirit; he sends his own Spirit into individual hearts. Whereas water baptism is a symbol, the reality which it represents is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the coming of the third person of the Trinity upon a human soul. Water baptism does not confer salvation, but only illustrates the change that God works in the heart. A person may be baptized and not truly exercise faith, in which case they are still lost in their sin. But the baptism of the Spirit is efficacious; it confers eternal spiritual life. It is not a symbol but the direct blessing of God, irreversible, irresistible, unstoppable. It alone makes a person a true Christian, and gives them a newly created nature, which for the first time is able to obey and please God. If people really repented at John’s baptism, they would have known to trust in Christ for salvation. The trouble was that, for the most part, the people who listened to John repented in a shallow way, and so were never converted and never knew the second baptism which Christ purchased for his people. That second baptism takes place at conversion when you are filled with spiritual understanding and tastes.But Christ will not only baptize with the Holy Spirit, but with fire. This is a matter of either, or. Either you are baptized with the Spirit, or you are baptized with fire, and this is John’s warning to the Pharisees. Just as the axe is laid to the root of the tree which bears no fruit, and the cut down tree is thrown onto the fire, so Christ will burn with unquenchable fire all those who do not repent and come to him for pardon. They will be immersed in his judgment. John’s message to the establishment of Israel is radical. No wonder, for the most part, they rejected his ministry.