He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

St. John the Baptist, by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco), ca. 1600, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA.

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.' "

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

- Matthew 3:1-12

  Yesterday we read that when the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."  Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.' "  My study bible tells us that the wilderness of Judea is the barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  The preparation for Christ's ministry starts with this call of John the Baptist to repent.  My study bible says that repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face.  In Greek, the word literally means "change of mind," or, my study bible says, to turn around.  But this change isn't simply about having a new opinion; it indicates a deeper kind of change of mind in which we are truly changed as persons.  My study bible explains that repentance is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart -- a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  It is the necessary first step in the way of the LORD.  It is also to be accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, and followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change.  John is quoting from Isaiah 40:3, indicating that the fulfillment of the prophecy is at hand.

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  My study bible explains that John's ascetic life confroms to the Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who lived in the wilderness and whose entire purpose was to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  John's clothing is typical of a prophet, most particularly the description of the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).  The monastic movement of the early Church was modeled on John's ascetic manner of life.

Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  My study bible remarks that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New.   But John's baptism differs from Christian baptism in an important respect.  John's is a sign of repentance and the forgiveness of sins alone.  It did not confer the power of regeneration nor adoption as a child of God, as does Christian baptism, as John indicates in verse 11, as He says of the One who is coming, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  According to my study bible, Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and they had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees were a lay religious movement.  They centered upon the study of the law and the strict observance of its regulations.  Contrary to the Sadducees, they believed in the resurrection of the dead and also held a messianic hope.  But they taught that righteousness was based on the strength of one's works according to the Law -- and moreover that the Messiah would be simply a glorious man.  John's title for them, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus (12:34, 23:33).  My study bible tells us that this title indicates their deception and malice, and also their being under the influence of Satan.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' "  My study bible notes that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life doesn't follow, it says, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.   Therefore in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is pictured chopping at a fruitless tree (verse 10).

"For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."   This phrase is a play on words:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  My study bible says that God will not admit fruitless children into God's house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  John's emphasis is on the fruitlessness of those for whom repentance is meaningless.  Fire here refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."   Christ will baptize in the fire of the Holy Spirit, which is the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  We should not be confused by thinking that this fire of the energies of God is different from the fire which consumes that which is not compatible with it.  In the words of my study bible, it is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.  In the culture of the time of John, my study bible explains, a slave would carry king's sandals; thus John is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  But his inability to carry Christ's sandal also has a second meaning, for carrying another's sandal once meant taking someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and also that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."   Winnowing the threshed grain from the chaff (that is, separating what is good for human beings from what is indigestible) is a metaphor for divine judgment, which separates good from evil.

John the Baptist gives us repeatedly metaphors using fire.  Fire is symbolic of the energies of God, both in God's mercy and action of love, but also in the effects of that action on that which is not compatible with love, not good for creation and which cannot live in the kingdom of God.  Fire is an image of divine energy:  the actions of God.  In this sense, the fire at once is cleansing and purifying, destructive to that which cannot stand in that fire, and sanctifying of that with which it is compatible.  We think back to the image of the burning bush appearing to Moses in the wilderness:  it was aflame and yet it did not burn (see Exodus 3:1-6).   This burning bush is also used as an image for the Virgin Mary, who was enveloped in the Holy Spirit, revealing her true fitness for the role she accepted, her own purity of heart.  What are the things that cannot stand in that fire?  Lives that are lived outside of the love of God and what is good, a refusal for change and growth, a steadfast selfishness that disavows all need for spiritual fruitfulness come to mind.  Furthermore, the divine judgment is just that:  only God can make that judgment, because only God thoroughly knows the heart of each person.  And yet, we are called -- all of us -- to stand in that holy fire that doesn't burn that with which it is compatible, that which is truly born of the love of God.  Indeed, that fire itself is love, as we know that God is love (1 John 4:8).  So what are the actions of love?  Surely mercy is a part of love.  But Christ illustrates the very point of "compatibility" with these energies of God when He teaches, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (5:7).  John the Baptist comes preaching a message of repentance, a true turn-around, an about-face, in preparation for this baptism of the Messiah, which will be with the fire of the Holy Spirit.  Let us consider the thorough change in perspective and outlook that is asked from us in repentance.  What does it mean to truly change, and toward what shall we make those changes?  The fire of the Holy Spirit is a clue to God's actions in us, seeking to burn away what is not compatible with God who is love.  Can we receive it?  Can we live it?  Are we ready for the work of God in us, or do we refuse the way of the Lord?