Verses 15-17 “15And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”John did and said such amazing things that many began to question whether he was the promised messiah. John assures them that he is not the Christ, and in so doing, he exalts Jesus. All good ministers will exalt Jesus and minimize themselves. As great as John was, he was not worthy to tie Jesus’ shoes. Jesus is far greater than John for two reasons that are mentioned here. First, neither John nor anyone else could baptize as Jesus would. John could baptize with water only, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire refers to the single even that occurred at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit proceeds from Jesus, and was sent by Jesus, to baptize believers into one body. This is a prediction of the beginning of the Church and of the fact that all believers throughout this dispensation of grace would be inseparably and mystically united to Christ.Second, Jesus is greater than John because Jesus has power to bring all men into Judgment (v17). John had no power to gather all of God’s people unto safety nor to send unbelievers to hell, but Jesus has that power. It is a power that He will exercise at His Second Coming. He will separate the saved from the lost, providing an eternal home of bliss for the saved and sending the lost into outer darkness. Hell is described as a place of “unquenchable fire,” which means that the punishment of hell is for ever and for ever (Rev 14:11).
16John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”John did and said such amazing things that many began to question whether he was the promised messiah. John assures them that he is not the Christ, and in so doing, he exalts Jesus. All good ministers will exalt Jesus and minimize themselves. As great as John was, he was not worthy to tie Jesus’ shoes. Jesus is far greater than John for two reasons that are mentioned here. First, neither John nor anyone else could baptize as Jesus would. John could baptize with water only, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire refers to the single even that occurred at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit proceeds from Jesus, and was sent by Jesus, to baptize believers into one body. This is a prediction of the beginning of the Church and of the fact that all believers throughout this dispensation of grace would be inseparably and mystically united to Christ.Second, Jesus is greater than John because Jesus has power to bring all men into Judgment (v17). John had no power to gather all of God’s people unto safety nor to send unbelievers to hell, but Jesus has that power. It is a power that He will exercise at His Second Coming. He will separate the saved from the lost, providing an eternal home of bliss for the saved and sending the lost into outer darkness. Hell is described as a place of “unquenchable fire,” which means that the punishment of hell is for ever and for ever (Rev 14:11).