Luke 3:15-17

Luke’s account of John’s preaching about Jesus is the longest in the three Synoptic Gospels (cf. John 1:19-25). John distinguished between his baptism and Messiah’s to show that he was not the Messiah.

Matthew’s account of these words stressed the importance of Jesus’ Jewish hearers repenting personally and nationally. Luke tailored his account to Gentiles and stressed the judgment that Jesus would bring (cf. Isaiah 4:4). The presence of only one article before "Holy Spirit" and "fire" in the Greek text suggests that John was referring to one baptism. It is probably the baptism that Jesus will initiate when He returns to earth as the messianic King but which He initiated from heaven as a foreview of that event on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; Acts 2:3-4; cf. Isaiah 44:3; Joel 2:28-32). John’s water baptism prefigured Jesus’ baptism. John’s reference to unquenchable fire implies eternal judgment. Jesus will be the stronger One who judges, not just God (cf. John 5:22).