Bangor Theological Seminary

Baptism by Water, the Holy Spirit and Fire

An Exegesis of Luke 3:15-17 Biblical Narrative BS1501 Ann Johnston

by Michael Shook

Southwest Harbor, Maine 12 April 2003

Luke 3:15-171 15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Luke-Acts, as laid out by the Greek historian author, offers a three part scheme: the law and the prophets, Jesus, and the Church. John the Baptist provides a transition between the first two parts. While Luke shows parallels between John and Jesus in the first chapter announcing Johns (1:5-25) and then Jesus (1:26-35) birth, the meeting of their mothers (1:36-45) followed by Mary praising God for Jesus (1:46-56) and Zechariah praising God for John (1:57-80)2 he emphasizes that John is subordinate to Jesus: while Jesus is Messiah and Son of God (1:32-35), John is only a prophet (1:76). Lukes account of Johns preaching is likewise divided into three sections: warning of the approaching judgement (3:7-9), a call for ethical reform (3:10-14) and a prophecy of the Messiah to come (3:15-17)3. In Palestine in the years before and after Jesus ministry, there was a small but powerful ruling class, consisting of both Roman authorities and the Jewish royal court and priesthood. The vast majority of the population was the peasantry, both villagers and rural agricultural workers. There was much discontent within the peasantry in the face of Roman rule and exploitation by the Jewish aristocracy. This discontent took various forms: urban demonstrations and riots and peasant uprisings and social banditry4. These forms of response to political and economic domination are common in many cultures and time periods. Distinct forms of peasant response in Palestine in this time period were messianic movements and prophetic movements. Both of these forms of response were informed by the peasants understanding of their shared history and traditions resulting in a shared memory of communal liberations led by Moses and David. In the Roman era both prophetic movements and messianic movements were 3

formed around individuals rising out of the peasantry. In messianic movement this individual was seen as a liberating king, and messianic movements were in fact popular uprisings. The messianic uprisings were not long lived: those of Simon bar Giora and bar Kochba lasted a few years. The messianic uprising of Judas son of Hezekiah lasted only a few weeks5. Although the prophetic movements were often perceived as threatening by the established authorities, they were not uprisings. There were two kinds of prophetic movements differentiated by the characteristics of the prophet: action prophets and oracular prophets. Action prophets were cast in the mold of Elijah and Elisha. Oracular prophet tended to have smaller followings and were more similar to the likes of Isaiah and Jeremiah. They undertook to interpret the significance of their own social and political situation in the context of the larger culture6. John the Baptist was one such oracular prophet. Luke 3:15-17 tells of a searching, seeking community, outside of the mainstream Roman, Hellenistic and Jewish culture, and the prophecy of John, a leader in that community. His prophesy of one who is coming, and the change in baptism from water to the Holy Spirit represents a kairos moment for the community, a time of change filled with possibility. There is evidence that disciples of John continued to exist after his death as well as during his life time7. Lukes use of 15-17 amplifies the idea that there may still be some that continue to see John as the Messiah even in Lukes time a generation or two after the Baptists death, and that Johns testimony must be used to counter those claims. Luke 3:16-17 parallels Matthew 3:11-12, but Matthew does not have the questioning 4

crowd of Luke 3:15. In Matthew 3:15 John baptizes Jesus, which would be corroborating evidence for those who believed that John rather than Jesus was the Messiah. In Luke, Jesus is baptized after Herod put John in prison, thus removing this piece of evidence for Johns superiority. Lukes text makes clear his position and the position of his community on Jesus superiority. The yearning of Johns community was not isolated. Many in the Graeco-Roman world found the established state religions wanting. This was a time of flowering for various mystery religions that shared many characteristics with Johns community. Whereas the tribal religions which predate the mystery religions typically encompassed the whole tribe, the mystery religions differentiate themselves from the establishment state religions in the cosmopolitan Hellenistic and Roman worlds. In tribal communities, membership was a matter of birth.8 In the Hebrew community it was symbolized by the circumcision rite. In the cosmopolitan world of Johns time, membership in a mystery religion was often a matter of choice for an adult, rejecting the establishment religion and embracing the tenants of the mystery religion. This personal transformation was typically endorsed and celebrated with an initiation rite. One can see Johns baptism as such an initiation rite. Several scholars have noted similarities between Johns community and specific other communities and traditions in the region and have speculated on possible connections between the them. These speculations are based in part on similarities in the initiation ceremonies. In these comparisons we begin to look at the possible

meaning to John and to Luke of the transition from a initiation-baptism by water and an initiation-baptism by the Holy Spirit-wind and fire which will replace the water rite. Leslie William Barnard notes the difference between Johns baptism in the moving river current with still waters of the Jewish tebilah immersion ceremony. He looks to the fiery river of the Pahlavi Bundahesh, an Iranian eschatological text. In this text the river is of molten metal and all people must pass through it. This is a judgement trial and in it Barnard sees a connection to Johns water baptism, which Barnard sees as a parallel to the judgement that John preaches9. Thomas Francis Glasson looks to similarities between Johns water baptism and the Orphic mystery traditions initiation ceremony. This is facilitated by noting that some authorities consider the Holy in Holy Spirit (3:16) to be a Christian addition. Thus edited, pneuma can be translated as wind rather than Spirit. He notes several similarities between the Orphic tradition and the Essene community with which the Baptist is frequently associated. Both are vegetarian and both live in community. The Pharisee historian Josephus claims that the Essenes looked upon the body as a prison and this was also true in the Orphic tradition. Finally, Glasson notes that the winnowing fan (fork in the NRSV) is a common symbol in the Orphic tradition10. All this fits nicely into the image of Johns community as a mystery cult arising in opposition to the rising Hellenisitc and Roman influence in the surrounding world, but in the end Glasson believes that it is more likely that Johns practice originates in Old Testament tradition (Isaiah 41:16; 4:4b and Malachi 3:2) rather than in the Orphic mysteries11. 6

James D. G. Dunn looks not to traditions predating and contemporary to John to understand the spirit and fire baptism, but to early church theologians Chrysostom and Origen, whose interpretations he rejects - and to contemporary theologians12. His goal is to understand whether the spirit-and-fire baptism is a baptism of grace or a baptism of judgement. To this end he notes considerable differences between the four Gospel accounts. Luke and Matthew are similar with the Baptist prophesizing that the one who is coming will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16; Matthew 3:11). In Mark (1:8) the prophesy is for baptism only with the Holy Spirit no fire. Likewise in John (1:33). With this breakdown Dunn confidently assigns the Holy Spirit and fire baptism to the Q source, as does Ernest Best13. The question is, what was original, and what was added later to bring Johns practice and preaching in line with early Christian interpretation. Dunn looks favorably on Ernest Bests proposition that pneuma should be translated as wind rather than Spirit, and thus he sees a judgmental wind and fire baptism. Dunn then looks to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the increased understanding of the Qumran community that they provide. In the Qumran community the Spirit appears as a cleansing, purifying power (I QS iii 7-9; iv 20 f.; I QH xvi 12).14 Dunn ultimately proposes that it was John the Baptist who finally linked the eschatological outpouring of the Spirit to the Messiah and who first spoke of the Messiahs bestowal of the Holy Spirit under the powerful figure, drawn from the rite which was his own hallmark, of a baptism in Sprit-and-fire. 15 In spite of Johns prophesy of a Spirit and fire baptism by the one who comes after, Jesus does not perform any baptismal rite as part of his ministry, although his disciples 7

do perform baptisms (John 4:2). The early church continues to follows Johns water rite to initiate new converts. Early church baptism was into the name of the Lord Jesus.16 Paul says that those baptized into Christ share in his death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4). Disagreements over infant or adult baptism became important during the Reformation17. And while there has never been a wind and fire baptismal rite in the church, baptism-by-fire is a common part of every day language, and thus finds its way into contemporary preaching.

1 2 3

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version unless noted otherwise. Paul W. Hollenbach, John the Baptist, in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992). Michael E. Lawrence, ed. The New Interpreters Bible, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995),

8:83.
4 Richard A. Horsley, Popular Messianic Movements around the Time of Jesus, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46 (1984), 494. 5 Ibid., 495 6 Richard A. Horsley, . Like One of the Prophets of Old: Two Types of Popular Prophets at the Time of Jesus, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 47 (1985), 453. 7 Lars Hartman, Baptism, in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992). 8 Reinhold Merkelbach, Mystery Religions, in The New Encyclopdia Britannica, (1993). 9 Leslie William Barnard, Matt. 3:11, Luke 3:16, Journal of Theological Studies 8 (1957), 107. 10 Thomas Francis Glasson, Water, Wind and Fire (Luke III. 16) and Orphic Initiation, New Testament Studies 3 (1956), 70. 11 Ibid., 71. 12 James D. G. Dunn, Spirit-and-fire Baptism, Novum Testamentum 14 (1972), 81. 13 Ernest Best, Spirit-baptism, Novum Testamentum 4 (1960), 236. 14 Dunn, 87. 15 Ibid., 92. 16 Hartman, Ibid, 586. 17 Baptism, in The New Encyclopdia Britannica, (1993).