GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
MARK 1:8
Jesus’ Baptism in the Holy Spirit
I looked at a painting of John the Baptist standing beside a man in the Jordan River. John was lifting handfuls of water from the Jordan River, apparently to pour it over the head of the candidate for baptism. It was a lovely image of one tradition evolving from the gospel story of John’s baptismal practices, about which books have been written and theological battles have been fought. Without trying to untie that Gordian Knot in just a few sentences, it seems important to focus on John’s message, “And he was preaching, saying, ‘One mightier than I is coming after me; of whom I am not worthy to stoop down to loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’” (Mark 1:7-8)
A great number of books have been devoted to explaining the nuances of the preposition “?? (en),” which Mark used to report John’s words “in (??) the Holy Spirit.” As with most prepositions, this word is open to a number of uses. For example, does ?? refer to means or location with regard to John’s baptism? Some early manuscripts do not include this word with regard to John’s baptism; it is supplied by translators. Regarding Jesus’ baptism, some writers think it refers to both means and sphere: Jesus will baptize in the realm of the Spirit by means of the Spirit. One writer cautions that grammatical nuances should not be pressed too far in defense of theological views.
One view of John’s statement holds that he, “one mightier than I,” would baptize in the realm, sphere, or means of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Spirit. Another significant point of John’s statement is that the verb “will baptize (ßapt?se?)” is in the future indicative active case—this baptism, once begun, will not stop. So …
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