And already the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.
John the Baptist says these words to the leading Jews of his day. The axe is not on its way, he tells them. It is already at the root. Two questions come out of the picture. Why the root and not the branches? And what fruit can stop the blow?
Everything hangs on the words "even now." John is not warning about something far off.
Here then was a stern rebuke for the leading Jews. But John adds more than that: "Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees" — that is to say, judgment is just at hand.
Another writer names what has ended, and who stands under the axe.
The axe was laid to the root of the trees. It was not warning and forbearance — the time of divine dealing had come. Judgment was there at the door. If a tree did not bear good fruit, it was to be cut down and thrown into the fire. This was individual.
Trimming a tree leaves it standing. Striking the root ends it. That is the difference John draws. One writer fills out the picture from the forest.
In a forest, the trees to be cut down are marked with a hatchet. In the same way, the objects of judgment had already been marked out. But it was no longer a question of cutting off branches, or even the trunk — the root was bad.
So reform will not help. Improving the outside of a bad tree does not change what its fruit shows.
The axe was laid to the root of the trees (v. 9): no amount of self-improvement on Israel's part would be recognised by God. If the tree was bad, as its fruit showed, the tree would be cut down — not only some of its branches — and thrown into the fire.
These men had every religious advantage, including descent from Abraham. John turns each advantage against them.
John the Baptist addresses the Jews, demanding repentance and righteousness as its fruit. He shows them that if they were nearer to God outwardly as Jews, they must expect judgment all the sooner. If the Lord was coming, He must have what suited the Lord. … Repentance or wrath — which? The Lord would allow no plea of descent from Abraham if their ways contradicted Abraham. He must have righteousness.
Everything then depends on what "good fruit" means. For John it is not a list of achievements. It is one honest admission.
Notice here that the only good fruit John recognises, as the way of escape, is the sincere confession of sin through grace. Only those who make this confession escape the axe. There really were no good trees except those that confessed they were bad.
An axe at the root does two things. It brings the tree down, and it shows what is inside.
If an axe is laid to the root of a tree, down it must go. So in a way John foretold the ruin of the nation. And if the axe were laid to the root of the tree, it would also show what was inside — it might be rotten to the core. When the axe of God's Word lays open the heart of man, as it does, it shows it to be rotten to the very core.
The picture is not left in the past.
All this applies to the day in which we live. Once more the axe is laid at the roots, to cut off and throw into the fire whatever has not borne fruit.
- Already — "Even now" means the blow is not far off. Warning time has ended, and judgment stands at the door.
- Root — the axe goes past the branches to the root. Pruning and self-improvement cannot save a bad tree.
- Fruit — descent from Abraham counts for nothing. Being nearer to God only brings the reckoning sooner.
- Confession — one fruit turns the axe away — honest confession of sin. The only good trees were those that admitted they were bad.
- Today — the same axe still lays the heart open, and the same test falls on whatever bears no fruit today.
*I* indeed baptise you with water to repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not fit to bear; *he* shall baptise you with [the] Holy Spirit and fire;
John the Baptist stands at the Jordan and draws a line between his own work and the work of the One coming after him. He names two baptisms — one with the Holy Spirit, one with fire — and the verse turns on whether they are one gift or two opposite ends.
John's baptism was real, but it was only preparation.
John's baptism was a baptism of repentance to prepare people for the coming Lord. So it was a purification — a "baptism of repentance". It marked out and separated a remnant from the rest of the people, so that they would escape the coming judgment... The crowds came to his baptism, confessing their sins. He baptized them in the Jordan, the river of death. In this they owned that all was over with them as to any natural claim, and that only divine mercy in a Saviour could meet their need. So they are baptized unto the forgiveness of sins, waiting for it in hope, though they have not received it yet.
Matthew, Mark and Luke each report John's words about the sandals a little differently.
He said, as we read in Matthew 3:11, "He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry." In Luke 3:16 it is, "whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." In Mark 1:7 it is, "the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie." What a completely self-effacing appreciation of his Master! And what rare humility!
Both halves come from the same Christ, but not to the same people.
He baptized with water. But the Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That is, He would give the fullest blessing, and carry out judgment as well — for fire here stands for judgment, as John went on to explain: the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire... He was addressing a mixed crowd, and he spoke to them of both. But the saints of God share only in the one, and those who do not repent share only in the other. For to baptize with the Holy Spirit is to give the fullest blessing that saints can enter into on earth. There is nothing beyond the gift of the Holy Spirit, and becoming members of the Body of Christ by the baptism of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
The Spirit given to a person also works in him.
He baptizes also with the Holy Spirit. That Spirit is given to a man who has been made alive, redeemed and cleansed in the blood of Christ, and He acts in divine energy in him. He brings him out from the influence of everything that works on the flesh, and sets him in connection and communion with all that is revealed of God.
Does the fire in this verse mean power?
Many people think the fire means power. Not so! A fire has no power except to destroy... Fire is always the symbol in Scripture of judgment.
So what is the fire, and when does it fall?
I understand it to be the unsparing divine judgment which the Lord will carry out on all evil when He appears. The righteous are for ever separated from it. John the Baptist presented the work of Messiah as a whole. The cross separated the two baptisms. One followed His first coming, when He went up on high and baptized in the power of the Spirit. The other awaits His second coming... So in Acts we hear nothing of baptism in fire: this is to be when the Lord comes.
Commentators differ over Pentecost. Some see the tongues of fire there as a partial form of the fire baptism.
The baptism with fire certainly points forward, as the context shows, to the final judgment of sinners. Yet even now the Spirit of God brings the truth of judgment home to the soul. So, anticipating judgment, the soul bows to the sentence of God and accepts His salvation. There is in this way a modified baptism of fire at Pentecost, indicated by the tongues of fire.
Others hold that the fire baptism did not occur at all that day.
But were there not divided tongues as of fire seen in the upper room? Unquestionably. Was that the baptism of fire? We firmly believe not. The Lord in Acts did not mention it; and Peter never referred to it.
- Water — John's baptism separated a remnant who owned death as their due and waited in hope for a forgiveness not yet given.
- Worth — John measured himself against the Coming One by the sandals he felt unfit to carry.
- Spirit — the higher baptism gives the fullest blessing available on earth. It brings a person into the Body of Christ and out from the pull of the flesh.
- Fire — the same sentence carries judgment. John explained it himself: the chaff burned with unquenchable fire. Fire destroys; it is not power.
- Divided — the cross split what John announced as one. The Spirit's baptism has come; the fire waits for the Lord's appearing. Commentators differ on whether Pentecost was a partial form of it.