Matius 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ¹  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ² 

Matius 6:2

6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ³  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ⁴  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ⁵  they have their reward.

Matius 8:4

8:4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not speak to anyone, ⁶  but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering ⁷  that Moses commanded, ⁸  as a testimony to them.” ⁹ 

Matius 12:45

12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹⁰  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Matius 28:7

28:7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. He ¹¹  is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you!”

[3:11]  ¹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[3:11]  ² sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[6:2]  ³ tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).

[6:2]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[8:4]  ⁶ sn The command for silence was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 9:30, 12:16, 16:20, and 17:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “gift.”

[8:4]  ⁸ sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.

[8:4]  ⁹ tn Or “as an indictment against them.” The pronoun αὐτοῖς (autoi") may be a dative of disadvantage.

[12:45]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[28:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And behold he.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).