Matthew 3:11

With water. John shows clearly that he understood his baptism to be only preparatory to the work of Christ.

He that cometh. John had already spoken of his own task as that of a herald announcing the coming of the Lord (v. 3). “He that cometh,” or “the coming One,” was common Jewish phraseology for the Messiah.

After me. That is, in point of time. John was the “messenger” sent “before” the “face” of the Lord (Mark 1:2).

Mightier than I. John later testified concerning Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John’s preaching was so filled with power that many of the people believed him to be the Messiah. Even the leaders of the nation were forced to consider the question seriously (John 1:19, 20). Christ Himself said of John that there “hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11). Despite this public acclaim John ever maintained a true sense of his relationship to the One who was to be “mightier than” he. Blessed is the man who meets with success and popularity, yet remains humble in his own eyes!

Shoes. Gr. hupodemata, literally, “things bound underneath.” These “shoes” were soles bound under the foot with straps, actually “sandals.” The Romans, but not the Jews, wore shoes.

Not worthy to bear. According to Luke, “not worthy to unloose” (ch. 3:16). Matthew’s phrase means to take off the sandal. To the Jews a shoe was the humblest part of man’s clothing. The expression “over Edom will I cast out my shoe” (Ps. 60:8; 108:9) was expressive of utter disdain. In the presence of God, Moses was commanded to remove his shoes (Ex. 3:5). To buy or sell the needy for a pair of shoes (Amos 2:6; 8:6) was to put the lowest possible price upon them. To “unloose” the shoes or to “bear” them away was the menial work of a slave. In affirming his own unworthiness to perform even this service for Christ, John was placing himself below the level of a slave. It was as if John had said, “whose slave I am unworthy to be.” The followers of a great teacher were expected to perform many personal services for him, but according to a rabbinical saying, “All manner of service that a slave must render to his master a student must render to his teacher, except that of taking off his shoe” (Talmud Kethuboth 96a, Soncino ed., p. 610).

Holy Ghost. Or, “Holy Spirit.” The Jews were familiar with this term. David had prayed, “Take not thy holy spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). Isaiah stated that Israel “vexed” God’s “holy Spirit” (Isa. 63:10, 11), and referred to “the Spirit of the Lord God” that was to rest upon the Messiah (ch. 61:1). John seems not to have emphasized baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2-6). For the meaning of this expression see on Matt. 1:18.

Fire. Fire and water are two great natural purifying agencies, and it is appropriate that both should be used to represent the regeneration of the heart. In a similar way, they are the two agencies by means of which God has purified, or will purify, this earth from sin and sinners (2 Peter 3:5-7). If men persistently cling to sin, they must eventually be consumed with it; how much better it is to permit the Holy Spirit to carry forward the purifying work now, while probation still lingers! A man will be either purged of sin or purged along with it. Paul said, “Fire shall try every man’s work” (1 Cor. 3:13).

The sense in which Christ was to baptize with fire is not certain. This statement may have pointed forward to Pentecost, when the disciples were baptized with the Holy Ghost under the symbol of fire (Acts 2:3, 4). Again, it may refer to the fires of the last day, as may be implied by the parallel nature of Matt. 3:12 (see on v. 12). It may refer to the grace of God purifying the soul. Or, again, it may refer to the fiery trials that Peter speaks of as testing the Christian (1 Peter 4:12; cf. Luke 12:49, 50). Perhaps the words of John the Baptist include more than one aspect of the Bible symbolism relating to fire.