Matthew 3:11

| Matt 3 |

11 b “I baptize you with water c for repentance, but d he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you e with the Holy Spirit and f fire.

1 Peter 3:21

| 1 Pet 3 |

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, u now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but v as an appeal to God for a good conscience, w through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Romans 2:28-29

| Rom 2 |

28 For s no one is a Jew t who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one u inwardly, and v circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. w His praise is not from man but from God.

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Matt. 3:1–17 John the Baptist Prepares for the Appearance of the Messianic Kingdom. John now appears, preaching in the Judean desert. It is more than 25 years since Joseph and his family moved back to Nazareth. The focus of Matthew's Gospel now shifts to Jesus' public ministry.

Matt. 3:11 He who is coming after me expresses strong messianic expectation. is mightier than I. John announces the nearness of the kingdom, but the Coming One will arrive with the power of God to inaugurate messianic rule. baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John's water baptism will be superseded by the baptism associated with the Coming One (see note on 1 Cor. 12:13). Those who repent and trust in him will receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Joel 2:28–29; Acts 2:16–21), while the unrepentant will receive the judgment of eternal fire, and even the repentant may undergo a purifying fire.