GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LUKE 3:15-16
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than me is coming, and I am not worthy to untie the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
The coming of the Christ, the anointed Messiah, had been announced by Gabriel (Luke 2:11), and it had been announced to Simeon (Luke 2:26). Now the people were beginning to wonder whether this startling man in the wilderness might possibly be the One. He had come seemingly out of nowhere! He drank only water. He ate wild food. He wore rough clothing. He didn’t live in a house. He was like Elijah in the book of Kings. He was a ferocious preacher. His message was law and gospel and no tiptoeing around any issues.
When people wondered whether John might be the Christ, he answered right away: “Not me. I have washed you with water, but he’s going to wash you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” And John talked about his status, too. A servant unties his master’s shoes and washes his master’s feet. “But I’m not even worthy to untie his shoes.”
What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire? Let’s start with the fire. Ask anybody in California what it means to have a mountain or a valley cleansed with fire. It means that homes, garages, neighborhoods, and entire villages are wiped out and destroyed right down to the dirt. How many secrets are left in a house consumed by fire? None at all. There’s nothing left. So how many hidden or forgotten sins are left in a soul that has been cleansed with the fire of the law and gospel? This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. There is no sin so hidden, so forgotten, or so filthy, that the Holy Spirit does not wipe it clean. He scrubs us inside and out. He scours us down, cleans us up, rubs us all over with the powerful word of God, and he soothes all of our wounds with the healing medicine of the gospel of forgiveness.
John baptized with (mere) water because that’s what the Lord placed into his hands. Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, but only after his ministry was done—at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit continues to work through baptism with water today, as we see throughout the book of Acts and in our own lives.
John pointed to Jesus. “There he is, Jesus is the Christ!” John’s life and ministry ripped away any excuses from the people of time They might have said, “If only we had a prophet who would have pointed out the Messiah, we would have believed!” But that exactly what John did. The people saw him as a prophet and called him a prophet (Luke 20:6). His words still ring throughout the world, and they still point only to Jesus. There is no other way to heaven. Jesus came, died, rose and will come again to rescue us from death and the tragedy of hell. Put your faith in Jesus. That’s what John was saying to everyone all along.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota