Title: The Baptism of Water, Spirit, and Fire
Scripture: Luke 3:15-20
Last time, John the Baptist delivered God’s message at the Jordan River, urging everyone to produce fruits that show true repentance. God desires a repentance that is real and produces visible results—a change in our lives, not just our words or thoughts.
Being freed from past sins is like dying to those sins. Maybe John, while baptizing with water in the Jordan River, spoke of leaving behind the slavery of sin, similar to Israel leaving slavery in Egypt. Through water baptism, he may have been encouraging people to leave their old lives behind and live anew.
Many people came to John to be baptized. There was a baptism movement! A little later in this chapter, even Jesus, who is sinless, humbly receives baptism to set an example for us. It’s like He picked up the baton from John, the last prophet of the Old Testament, and then began His ministry. Baptism is a connection between John and Jesus, but there’s also a difference in their baptisms.
In verse 15, we see people wondering if John might be the Messiah. They were waiting with hope for the Christ.
Then, in verse 16, John explains the difference between his baptism and the baptism of Christ. John baptized with water, but the Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The difference between water and fire shows the difference between John and Christ.
In a way, baptism means dying to something. Water baptism symbolizes a kind of dying in water, and fire baptism symbolizes a complete destruction by fire. The difference? With water, there’s still a body left. But with fire, everything burns away completely, leaving nothing.
Is being burned by fire good news? Well, today’s scripture says it is! Imagine all our sins being burned away completely. Psalm 103 says our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire is a good thing, no doubt.
John talks about Jesus as the one who will gather the “wheat” into His barn, but the “chaff” will be burned with unquenchable fire. Some people might find this uncomfortable, but others will see it as good news. If you see yourself as wheat, you don’t have to fear judgment. But then there’s the chaff. It looks like wheat but has no fruit. Farmers invest in crops, but some plants end up as chaff with no fruit, like Herod, who Luke says represents this kind of chaff.
When grain is threshed, the wind blows the chaff away, but the wheat falls to the ground because it’s heavier. Wheat goes into storage; chaff goes into the fire. Even if someone has power and success, they’re like chaff if they lack the “fruit” that matters to God.
Unlike water, fire destroys completely. Some philosophers say the soul is immortal, but the Bible says that God alone has the power to destroy both body and soul (Matthew 10:28).
The difference between water and fire is like the difference between people and God—it’s like the difference between earth and heaven.
We must have a reverent fear of God. A person who doesn’t fear God has no limits on their behavior, which can lead to ethical and moral corruption. Herod was a clear example. Though he wasn’t a king, he ruled a region as a tetrarch, and he didn’t hesitate to do cruel things. John the Baptist confronted him, but Herod eventually put John in prison, disliking his rebuke. A foolish person hates correction, but a wise person values it because correction brings the chance to change. Wise people see correction as helpful.
Chaff looks a lot like wheat. They both might go to church, read the Bible, and pray. From the outside, they can look the same. But God and each person know the difference.
Our bodies aren’t really ours. God gave them to us. Can we make our cells divide or keep our heart beating while we sleep? No. Yet, we sometimes think our bodies are ours to control.
In today’s world, we might ignore boundaries, hurting others without realizing or caring if it doesn’t impact us. We may even dislike those who correct us. Like Herod, we might try to remove anyone who tells us we’re wrong. If it were possible, we might even silence them completely. This is what Herod did. He didn’t want to lose face in front of others, so he ended up ordering John’s death.
Herod represents the sinful nature in all of us. We need to realize we’re only human and, without God’s help, prone to sin. You might think, “I’m not like Herod.” But the Holy Spirit may say, “Actually, that’s you.”
Correction may feel shameful or uncomfortable. We may want to hide from it. But as the saying goes, “Honesty is the best policy.” If you’re corrected, may you be humble enough to acknowledge it honestly. Avoiding correction only leads to more layers of deceit and regret.
After King David sinned with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan said, “You are that man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). David, unlike Herod, repented and became known as “a man after God’s own heart” because he knew how to turn back to God.
Sometimes, we’re quick to judge others’ sins while being blind to our own. When God says, “You are that person,” it’s not to condemn but to guide us back to Him. God’s rebuke is His way of keeping us from going down a destructive path.
Rather than judging if others are chaff or wheat, may we be people who listen to God’s gentle voice of correction in our lives.
– In Jesus Christ Amen –
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