Lukas 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ¹  “I baptize you with water, ²  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ³  to untie the strap ⁴  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁵ 

Lukas 11:31-32

11:31 The queen of the South ⁶  will rise up at the judgment ⁷  with the people ⁸  of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁹  something greater ¹⁰  than Solomon is here! 11:32 The people ¹¹  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ¹²  – and now, ¹³  something greater than Jonah is here!

Lukas 23:35

23:35 The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed ¹⁴  him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save ¹⁵  himself if ¹⁶  he is the Christ ¹⁷  of God, his chosen one!”

[3:16]  ¹ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ² tc A few mss (C D 892 1424 pc it ) add εἰς μετάνοιαν (ei" metanoian, “for repentance”). Although two of the mss in support are early and important, it is an obviously motivated reading to add clarification, probably representing a copyist’s attempt to harmonize Luke’s version with Matt 3:11.

[3:16]  ³ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:16]  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!

[3:16]  ⁴ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:16]  ⁵ 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.

[11:31]  ⁶ sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

[11:31]  ⁷ sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.

[11:31]  ⁸ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.

[11:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “behold.”

[11:31]  ¹⁰ sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.

[11:32]  ¹¹ tn See the note on the word “people” in v. 31.

[11:32]  ¹² tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[11:32]  sn The phrase repented when Jonah preached to them confirms that in this context the sign of Jonah (v. 30) is his message.

[11:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “behold.”

[23:35]  ¹⁴ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[23:35]  ¹⁵ sn The irony in the statement Let him save himself is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross.

[23:35]  ¹⁶ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

[23:35]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:35]  sn See the note on Christ in 2:11.