Baptism of Jesus

Reading: Matt 3:11-17

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him... 'It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness'. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened... and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying,


"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
Matt. 3:13-17 NKJ

John spoke about the baptism of repentance. He prophesied about a new baptism yet to come:

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, 

but He who is coming after me is mightier than I...

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Matt. 3:11NKJ

What is this baptism of the Holy Spirit? What did Jesus say about the Spirit that was to come? He tells us about the Holy Spirit in the gospel of John:

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever... the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you will know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you...
John 14:16, 17,

"He will testify of Me" 15:26,

"when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, 
and of righteousness and of judgment... 
However, when He the Spirit of truth, has come,  
He will guide you into all truth; 
for He will not speak on His own authority, 
but whatever He hears He will speak, 
and tell you of things to come.  He will glorify Me, 
for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you". 
16:5-15,

These are Jesus' last words before He was taken up into the clouds. "He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now...But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:1-8, "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, thy were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance... Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea... let this be known to you... this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. Acts 2:1-18

"Every good and every perfect gift is from above, 
and comes down from the Father of lights, 
 with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, 
that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."
James 1:17,18

In Galations 5:16-26 points out the contrast of walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. This contrast is also seen in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3. In I Cor 12, 13 and 14 you will see what Paul says about the gifts and operation of the Holy Spirit both privately and in the church.

My personal comment on these verses is that I want everything, every good and perfect gift that my Father has purposed for me to have. I really need His Holy Spirit and I don't want to miss out on a the fruits of Spirit-led life nor the opportunity to be a witness for Jesus. I want to be guided into all truth to be completely immersed in the baptism of Jesus, the baptism of His Holy Spirit and fire. Bless you in your search for truth and the blessing of God in your life.