Verse 11: In verse 11, Jesus is formally introduced by John.
John’s baptism calls for an immersion in water which amounts to a public confession of the worshiper's act of repentance. He says the One who is coming (Jesus) will immerse this same repentant worshiper in the Holy Spirit and with fire. Immersion in water is only ritually symbolic in one sense, but yet it is done as an obedience to the commandment of God. However, immersion into the Holy Spirit actually changes the very nature of the person.
This change is expressed by the words which follow the Holy Spirit. That is, the word “fire”. Remember what we just discussed: fire is used for purification or it is used for destruction. The “fire” of the Holy Spirit brings divine purification to the worshiper, stripping the person of the uncleanness caused by a life of sinning, and making him acceptable to God. This is in contrast to the person remaining unclean and unacceptable to God, thus suffering the divine destruction which will come to those who refuse the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We need to be very careful as we encounter phrases such as “immersion into the Holy Spirit”, immersed in “fire”, etc. The writers of the Bible were under the inspiration of God. They used metaphors, illustrations and cultural expressions of the physical world they were familiar with in order to help describe and explain the otherwise inexplicable. But the physical is not the spiritual. So we must not carry the illustrations too far.
One of the main obstacles for Believers in the 21st Century is to grasp what these metaphors and illustrations used meant to 1st Century Jews. It is only looking at these saying within that context which is the most correct.
Verse 12: Verse 12 presents the contrast to the last words of verse 11. In verse 11 John speaks of the repentant worshiper being immersed into the Holy Spirit and fire (or purification). In verse 12, John now speaks of the alternative. In this illustration, we have the same wheat from the same harvest is winnowed.
Winnowing is the process of separation. In the winnowing process, a winnowing fork is used to toss the harvest up into the air, and the breeze carries away the lighter part but the heavier part falls to the threshing floor. The grain is seed and put away, but the unusable chaff is gathered up and burned.
The winnowing is another metaphor used to illustrate the consequence of those who refused the baptism offered by Jesus—a baptism John says that he cannot offer. The Believer’s experience with fire will purify them. The non-Believer’s experience with fire will destroy him.
A Short Detour
If we take a short detour, the Apostle Paul also talks about fire and about its ability to purify and destroy. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul talks about our works. He states our works will be tested with fire.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test [e]the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
Notice how anything which is built upon the foundation will be tested by fire. Things which are precious such as gold, silver and precious stones can withstand the fire. The things which are worthless such as wood hay and straw, fire will destroy.
Back to Matthew
If we look back at verse 10, we read that that axe is already laid at the root of the trees. The beginning words of verse 12 state “He has with Him His winnowing fork”. What do these two phrases say if you were a Jew living in the 1st Century? To me it says: “imminent”. They would say these events are about to happen any day. Those words do not convey to me “it will happen some time in the future”.
John and Jesus were not the one to raise the alert about the Apocalypse. They were living in the times of the expectation of it. Their presence and message also seem to validate it. The believe that the Jews were already in the End Times was well established. It was further believed that with each passing year of the Roman occupation, a new atrocity was placed upon the Jews.
Verse 13: Verse 13 takes a sudden change of tone of what will happen when Jesus comes to John’s baptism. We are told where John had been baptizing people—in the River Jordan.
A question which may arise is why is John baptizing in the Jordan River and not in one of the many mikvehs in about around Jerusalem? The answer is that more than likely it is because the Temple authorities never would have allowed it since it would have been under Temple rules and supervision. We have established that John was not welcomed in the Temple. So, he had to baptize someplace where the Temple authorities had little control. The solution was the Jordan River.
The place where John was regularly baptizing people and living has been found. There is a place east of Jerusalem at the Jordan River which includes a cave. We are told John lived in the desert. He needed to keep a certain distance from the Jewish religious authorities, and this place would have provided this distance.
Verse 14: When Jesus arrives at the Jordan River, John balks at the suggestion he should baptize this man. John has already said that he is not worthy to carry His sandals. But Jesus insists on being baptized.
The controversy and doctrine debates surrounding Jesus’ immersion by John is hard to overstate. There are at least nine different explanations for Jesus seeking this baptism. I am not sure I agree with any of them.
One thing which leads to many of these strange doctrines is that they are trying to vault Jesus from His 1st century Jewish culture into our present age. The doctrines want to leave behind Jesus’ Jewishness and make Him a Christian.
When we discuss this event and take into account the very Jewish nature of it, some aspects of it become more clear. First and foremost, this was not Jesus’ first immersion. He would have been immersed hundreds of times by this point in His life, just as any observant Jew would have. This is especially true for a Jew who was living in the Holy Land.
Immersions were required for many, many reasons. If a person came in contact with a menstruating woman, the person had to be immersed in water. If a man had a seminal emission, he had to be immersed in water. If someone touched a dead body, he had to immerse himself in water. There are many other instances where a person was to be immersed. If a person did not get immersed, he was considered unclean. Someone who was unclean could not enter the Temple grounds. Also, someone who was unclean could get other people unclean by touching them. Thus, if anyone was planning on going to the Temple, he would try to stay away from someone who was unclean.
As you can see, being unclean is more important for someone living in the Holy Land. Any time the person wanted to go to the Temple he had to undergo and immersion. These immersions are translated into English as baptisms (derived from the Latin baptizo).
We know from the Gospels, Jesus touched dead bodies and a woman with a blood issue. He would have been unclean and would have had to undergo immerse to enter the Temple grounds.
I say all this because many Christians believe this was the first time Jesus was immersed. This is not true. Jesus had undergone this ritual numerous times. What is the significance of this particular immersion? I am not entirely sure. I will leave that for your own speculation.
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