The holy Spirit and with fire.....?

[Catholic4aReasn]

Matt 3:11 says that Jesus will baptize with the holy Spirit and with fire. I know what the holy Spirit is. What is this fire John was referring to?

Thanks!

In Christ,
Nancy

 

[Fidelis]

Apparently it was a reference to the Sacrament of Baptism (as contrasted to John’s baptism, which was only a non-effectual sign of repentance). Here is what the Navarre Bible Commentary on Matthew sez:

1. St John the Baptist did not limit himself to preaching penance and
   repentance; he encouraged people to receive his baptism. This baptism was a
   way of interiorly preparing them and helping them to realize that the coming
   of Chris t was imminent. By his words of encouragement and by their humble
   recognition of their sins, they were prepared to receive Christ’s grace
   through Baptism with fire and the Holy Spirit. To put it another way, John’s
   baptism did not produce justification, whereas Christian Baptism is the
   sacrament of initiation which forgives sin and bestows sanctifying grace.
   The effectiveness of the sacrament of Christian Baptism is expressed in
   Catholic teaching when it says that the sacrament gives grace “ex opere
   operato”. This means that grace is given by virtue of Christ who acts
   through the sacrament, and not by virtue of the merits of either the
   minister or the recipient of the sacrament. “When Peter baptizes, it is
   Christ who baptizes …]. When Judas baptizes, it is Christ who baptizes”
   (St Augustine, “ln loann. Evang.”, 6).

The word “fire” points in a metaphorical way to the effectiveness of the
Holy Spirit’s action in totally wiping out sins. It also shows the
life-giving power of grace in the person baptized.

The Haydock Commentary on the DRV says something similar:

Ver. 11. [John is saying] “my baptism is only calculated to lead you to a penitential life, and not to give you true justice; but he who comes after me, is stronger than I, and whose shoes I am not worthy to carry: (it was customary with the attendant slave to carry a change of shoes for his master) he will baptize you in the Holy Ghost, and in the fire of his divine charity, which he will infuse into your hearts, to purify you from all your sins.”(Bible de Vence) — Here St. John tacitly insinuates the divinity of Jesus Christ. He acknowledges his unworthiness, and it is this his humility that makes him the more acceptable to God, “I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?” (Tirinus) — Whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. In St. Mark, (chap. i. 7.) and in St. Luke, (iii. 21.) we read, the latchet of whose shoes . . . I am not worthy to untie. The sense is the same, and St. John might use both these expression. His meaning is, that he was not worthy to do him the least, or the lowest service. — He shall baptize you in, or with the Holy Ghost, i.e. by his baptism, he will give you the remission of your sins, and the graces of the Holy Ghost, signified also by fire, which may allude to the coming of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, in the shape of fiery tongues. (Witham)

Hope that helps.

 

[steve99]

Catholic4aReasn:

Matt 3:11 says that Jesus will baptize with the holy Spirit and with fire. I know what the holy Spirit is. What is this fire John was referring to?

Thanks!

In Christ,
Nancy

For more about the Baptism of Fire see the following site
flameministries.org
Fully Catholic, fully approved by the Church.

 

[Todd_Easton]

A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, edited by Dom Bernard Orchard and others, published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1953, on page 858 it says in part:
His [John the Baptist’s] baptism is only an expression of, and stimulus to, repentance; the baptism of the coming Messias will be a steeping in the Holy Spirit, a profoundly purifying fire (cf. the Messianic purification of Malachi * 3:2 f.), not merely touching the surface like water. ’ And fire ', (being without the preposition, is explanatory of ’ Holy Spirit ’ ). John thus fortells the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Acts* 2:3, of which the sacrament of Baptism is one means. This purifying action on the individual soul produces a distinction between those who accept it and those who refuse it.

 

[BibleReader]

Catholic4aReasn:

Matt 3:11 says that Jesus will baptize with the holy Spirit and with fire. I know what the holy Spirit is. What is this fire John was referring to?

Thanks!

In Christ,
Nancy

“fire” = the Fire Type = “a special presence of God.” For example, note that Moses met God at a burning bush. Additionally, when God first covenants with Abraham, God appears in the form of a “brazier” – and oven; and a torch. BOTH of these are * fired* instruments, aren’t they?

So, when Jesus baptizes with “fire,” we are being told that a “special presence of God” – the Holy Spirit? Grace? – will come upon us.