I think you'll find John 4:1-2 interesting and quite revealing. "The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples." Let's use our Inductive Study Method to get all we can from these two verses.
V. 2 -- However, the writer says the fact is that Jesus did not baptize. His disciples did the baptizing.
V. 2 -- Why does the writer make a point of saying that Jesus did not baptize? What's the significance of that fact? Does any Scripture dispute that claim? Did Jesus ever baptize anyone? If so, who? Why did his disciples baptize? Which disciples? All of them or just some? Where did they baptize? What was their mode of baptism? Was it similar or different than John's baptism? How long did Jesus' disciples continue the practice of baptism?
"The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John." The word baptizing in this verse is baptizei . The word is third person, singular number, present tense, indicative mood, active voice. This was a simple statement of fact. Jesus was baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist.
I believe the Pharisees were greatly disturbed by that fact. They were already trying to deal with the movement surrounding John the Baptist. Now they had to deal with a new movement surrounding Jesus Christ. They must have believed things were starting to get out of control. Both movements attacked the religious positions of the Pharisees. The Pharisees had a nice, comfortable life and they didn't need the aggravation from these two preachers.
"After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan--the one you testified about--well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him. To this John replied, 'A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ [Messiah] but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.'"
Let me take just a minute to point out the obvious. John's disciples were excited about the ministry they had with John. They were seeing vast crowds of people coming to John for his preaching and baptism. The movement was growing. It had momentum. But now they saw competition for the people's attention and commitment. Someone else was getting the crowds. This bothered John's disciples. It's a normal human emotion and response.
John's last words are very interesting. He may have heard that truth directly from Christ. Just a few verses earlier, Jesus spoke with Nicodemus and said:
"I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
John was a very dedicated person. He was more concerned about the will of God than his own life and personal success. He rejoiced that God's work was being done before his eyes. He probably had some sense about the special role he played in God's plan. The "bride" he speaks of is Israel. The "bridegroom" is Christ. John the Baptist was the "friend" of the bridegroom. With that in mind, read his words again. "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete." John believed Jesus to be the bridegroom. John knew it was his calling from God to go before him [John said, "I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him." He also said, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'" ] and prepare the way for Christ to proclaim God's message to Israel. John knew his position and purpose. "The one who comes from above is above all [Christ]; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth [John]." John realized his ministry was temporary, while Christ's was permanent. John knew his own ministry would diminish as Christ's became stronger. "He must become greater; I must become less." I believe it takes a great man of God to act upon that belief. It is against human nature to move into the background so someone else can take center stage. John was a dedicated, unselfish servant of Almighty God. He was a great man. I look forward to meeting him in heaven.
Let's begin by reviewing the word baptized in this portion of Scripture. It is ebaptizen . It is third person, singular number, imperfect tense, active voice. The imperfect tense refers to its significance of continuous action to past time. The imperfect helps us see the course of the action. One Greek expert wrote that "it dwells on the course of an event instead of merely stating its occurrence." (Goodwin, Greek Moods and Tenses) The imperfect tense is used to denote action in progress in past time. "The imperfect denotes an incomplete action, one that is in its course, and is not yet brought to its intended accomplishment. It implies that a certain thing was going on at a specified time, but excludes the assertion that the end of the action was attained." (Donaldson, Syntax and Synon. of the Gr. Test) The action of Christ's disciples baptizing was not complete. It was going on at the time the Pharisees were quoted and would continue. The Greek letter epsilon (e) before ebaptizen , makes it mean "baptized not." The direct translation of verse two reads, "though Jesus himself baptized not but the disciples of him."
We get much of our insight about why Jesus did not baptize with water from John the Baptist. What I want you to do here is read the verses, then make notations on a page about what you observed. Don't make interpretations at first. Let your mind "see" everything that's on the page. Write down what you see. Look for similarities and differences. What key words do you find in each verse? Do you find contrasts? After you've "seen" everything the verses have to offer, ask "questions" for interpretation. That will lead you into the interpretive phase.
OBSERVATIONS
QUESTIONS
"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."Matthew 3:12
"His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."Luke 3:17
The word "fire" is used 459 times in the Bible. The Old Testament words include esl, berah, isseh, baarl, sarap, srepah, mabbel, kabah, yqod, sut, mdurah, url, nasaq, misrapot, nur, mbasslot, lahatl, dalaq . The New Testament words include pyr, pyra, klibanos, phos, phlox, anthrakia, anapto, phlogizo, kausoo .
The word for "fire" in Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17 is pyri . It's the dative case, singular of py . The DATIVE case is where the noun indicates an object of interest or reference. The word is used in two basic ways in the New Testament: (1) Literal fire and (2) Symbolic fire. It's important to always study the context of each usage and differentiate between the two types.
Literal --- The fire that burns a sacrifice on an altar is a literal fire. The fire that cooks a meal is a literal fire.
Symbolic --- The fiery trials and difficulties that challenge a believer's faith is a symbolic fire (1 Peter 1:7). The heavenly fire that will test the quality of work a Christian has done on earth is a symbolic fire (1 Cor. 3:10-15). The strife and discord that a fiery tongue causes is a symbolic fire (James 3:6).
John the Baptist speaks of an "unquenchable" fire. The Greek word is asbesto . We get our English word "asbestos" from it. The idea of the Greek is that once something is on fire, nothing can quench it (cause it to stop burning). It will continue to burn forever! The word asbesto , is used three times in the New Testament. We've already seen it in Matthew 3 and Luke 3. We also find the word in Mark 9:43. Notice the context. It's important to our understanding of Christ's baptism with fire.
"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out."
(Also see Matthew 18:8)
The words "never goes out" is from the Greek words to asbeston ("the unquenchable"). Mark says that hell (gehenna ) is a place where fire is unquenchable. We find support for that fact in many other portions of the Bible. Here are a few:
"And they [God's chosen people] will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."Isaiah 66:24
"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."Daniel 12:2
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."Matthew 25:46
"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power..."2 Thessalonians 1:9
"In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."Jude 7
"And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever ... Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The Lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."Revelation 20:10, 14-15
We find more evidence of Christ's fiery baptism in The Baptist's words "winnowing fork," "threshing floor," "wheat into his barn," and "burn up the chaff."
"winnowing fork" is ptuon . It was a fan or winnowing shovel. Farmers used it to throw grain up against the wind in order to cleanse it and separate it from the chaff.
"threshing floor" is halona . It was an area where grain was threshed and winnowed.
"wheat into his barn" is ton siton eis ten apotheken autou .
"burn up the chaff" is achuron katakausei . Chaff was the husks and refuse of wheat separated by thrashing and winnowing. It was easily disturbed and put in motion by moving air. The Jews used the chaff as fodder and for burning.
This is quite a picture. Christ's second baptism is with fire. John said He had His winnowing fork (fan) in His hand and would burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. The chaff, in this context, were those people who would not receive His gospel.
Jesus baptizes everyone. Some receive His baptism with the Spirit. Some His baptism with fire. Spirit baptism is a blessing. Fire baptism is a curse. Spirit baptism leads to eternal life. Fire baptism is an eternal death.
However, Jesus did not baptize with water when He was on earth. Luke makes that abundantly clear. Water baptism is something God gave to man. Spirit and fire baptism are things God gave only to His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our desire should be to receive God's blessing. We want Christ to baptize us with His Spirit. That happens the instant we ask God to forgive our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is a blessing indeed!
Please continue with this study at Water Baptism Part 3 or return to The GraceLife(tm) Menu Page for other studies about the Gospel of the Grace of God.
"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
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Last Updated: 12/20/1999