Bible Strands
Luke 3:16
John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — John answers the crowd's unspoken question (v.15) about whether he is the Christ. He does so by immediately directing their attention past himself to One who is coming.
The words — ἀπεκρίνατο (apekrinato), "answered," is aorist middle indicative — a deliberate, public reply rather than a casual remark, marking this as the formal response to the crowd's wondering.
The thread — Matthew 3:11 preserves the same declaration in parallel. Acts 1:5 and Acts 11:15 record the fulfillment of the "baptize with the Holy Spirit" promise.
Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to accept that the messenger exists only to point; any attempt to make John (or any prophet) the destination is a misreading of his own words.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
John 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:
Cross-references
- Matthew 3:11 I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- Acts 1:5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
- Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
- John 1:33 I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
- John 1:26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know.
- Joel 2:28 And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
- Acts 19:4 Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
- Acts 2:3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
- Isaiah 4:4 when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
- Zechariah 13:9 This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”