He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Luke 3:1-22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight. ⁵ ‘Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight, And the rough roads smooth; ⁶ And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

⁷ So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. ¹⁹ But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, ²⁰ Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

John’s call, his mission was, as it says to: ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.  His message was, as it says in Matthew 3:1-2: Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."    John’s message was repentance from sin, not a soft ear tickling message, yet people were drawn to him. He challenged people saying that repentance would bring change, evidence, fruit to and from their lives. He said:  Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, …⁹ Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”     Surly John’s ministry and his message would be rejected by many today, both in and outside the church, because it focused on sin and repentance rather than love and acceptance.

Jesus though, did not reject or rebuke John, as He did the Pharisees, scribes and other religious leaders of His day. In fact Matthew 3:13-17 tells quite a different response of Jesus to John:   Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”      Jesus, the one who was without sin, acknowledged the need of the world for repentance by Himself be baptized.  

John was clear all along in pointing to Christ. Today’s text says:    John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”      Even as he spoke of Christ, he referred to His coming to separate the wheat and the chaff, what is good from what is bad.

John preached a hard, unwavering message. He pointed to the coming Christ and the kingdom which was at hand. John’s unwavering uncompromising message of the truth of God’s word and righteousness, eventually cost him his life. He was arrested, imprisoned and beheaded for standing for God’s truth. In Matthew 11:11, Jesus again pays tribute to John saying:  Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.    How is it that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John? It is because in the kingdom of heaven their place is not recognized by their natural birth, but by their spiritual birth. In John 3:3-8 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind  blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”   Being born of water and the Spirit, is a reference to baptism. A baptism like John’s for repentance but more than that a baptism into life with Christ and the Spirit.

In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus commissioned the disciples and all believers with a mission that carries out and continues His mission and John’s mission.   “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.   Proclaiming the gospel, means to tell the good news. Repentance from sin and turning to Christ is not bad news. Telling the truth to a dying world is not intolerant or hateful. In fact if we truly love others we will tell them of the greatest love the world has ever known. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”   Our message should not focus on the sin and darkness in the world. It should focus on the light and life in Christ, the new birth in water and the Spirit for those who believe. The world is full of bad news these days, it’s all around us. But so too is the good news, the kingdom is at hand.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for the redeeming work of the cross in my life. Thank You for new life, born of water and the Spirit. May I be faithful to fulfill Your commission, to carry out Your mission, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom. May I, like John, be unwavering and uncompromising in declaring Your word and may I like Christ do it all in love and for love. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May it be both in and through my life.   Amen.