Matthew 3:11 (WEB)
“I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
Catechism · 1
“Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Mal 3: 19; Mt 3:7-12.
Fathers and councils · 56
Irenaeus of Lyons
“Now, who this Lord is that brings such a day about, John the Baptist points out, when he says of Christ, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, having His fan in His hand to cleanse His floor; and He will gather His fruit into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11, etc.
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John Damascene
“The fourth was that of John, being preliminary and leading those who were baptized to repentance, that they might believe in Christ: I, indeed, he said, baptize you with water; but He that cometh after me, He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.” — editor's note: St. Matt. iii. 11.
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Catena Aurea on John
- Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on John
“(Matt. 3:11) What then?” — the author cites it
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“Noble was he that baptized with water, but what to Him that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and with fire?” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
Read the whole comment“For he says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me, and the rest; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Ambrose of Milan
“And being baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, He foreshadowed the Sacrament of Baptism at the hands of John.” — editor's note: S. Matt. iii. 11.
Read the whole comment“…is the reason why St. John acknowledged Christ’s priority, that He, Who is His own Father’s eternal Power, may be presented as on that account duly preferred.” — editor's note: The explanation of St. John Baptist’s words in the Fourth Gospel is to be found, indeed, in the same Gospel (i. 27) and in the other three Gospels. See Matt.…
Read the whole comment“And then, when he was questioned whether he were perchance himself the Christ, he answered: “I baptize you with water, but a stronger than I shall come, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”” — editor's note: S. Matt. iii. 11; S. Luke iv. 16; S. John i. 26, 27.
Read the whole comment“For the bush was burning but was not consumed, because in that mystery the Lord was showing that He would come to illuminate the thorns of our body, and not to consume those who were in misery, but to alleviate their misery; Who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, that He might give grace and destroy sin.” — editor's note: S. Matt. iii. 11.
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Justin Martyr
“…fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into the barn; but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.’” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11, 12.
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Augustine of Hippo
“Or by the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, “He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost;” and again, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink;” and again, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that asketh water of thee, thou…” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
Read the whole comment“…whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 4–12.
Read the whole comment“Now John, amongst the other things which he spake to those who came to be baptized by him, said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
Read the whole comment“For His baptism is not with water only, as was that of John, but with the Holy Ghost also; so that whoever believes in Christ is regenerated by that Spirit, of whom Christ being generated, He did not need regeneration.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11
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John Chrysostom
“As also Matthew says, that when all came to him, he said, “I indeed baptize you with water, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11, and Luke iii. 16.
Read the whole comment“Often did John testify of Christ to the Jews, and when he baptized them he continually made mention of Him to his company, and said, “I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh One after me who is mightier than I; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” ( Matt. iii. 11.)” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“Now the one John declares, speaking thus, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with Fire” ( Matt. iii. 11 ): the other, Christ, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” ( John vii. 38.)” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“…but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:”implying hereby that considerationonly is needed and faith, not labors and toils; and as it is easy to be baptized, so is it easy to be converted, and to…” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11. Comp. Luke iii. 16. [In neither passage is the preposition repeated in the Greek text. Chrysostom (see sec. 6) interprets “fire” as part of the…
Read the whole comment“Didst thou not teach all the people, that “He should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire?”and that He “is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world?”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
Read the whole comment“For neither when John saith, “He is mightier than I,”doth he say it as comparing them; nor Paul, when remembering Moses he writes, “For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses,”doth he so write by way…” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Leo the Great
“…baptized “in water unto repentance,” but He who with twofold power should both restore life and destroy sins, was about to “baptize in the Holy Ghost and fire.”” — editor's note: S. Matt. iii. 11; S. Luke iii. 16.
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Tertullian
“In fact, the doctors of the law and the Pharisees, who were unwilling to “believe,” did not “repent” either.” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 7–12; xxi. 23, 31, 32.
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Basil the Great
““I indeed,” he says, “baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“That the Light that is exceeding bright should follow the Candle—Forerunner, and the Word, the Voice, and the Bridegroom, the Bridegroom’s friend, that prepared for the Lord a peculiar people and cleansed them by the water in preparation for the Spirit?” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Jerome
“And again,“I indeed baptize you with water, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Hippolytus of Rome
““There comes One mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Clement of Alexandria
“But we say that the fire sanctifies not flesh, but sinful souls; meaning not the all-devouring vulgar fire but that of wisdom, which pervades the soul passing through the fire.” — editor's note: Consult Matt. iii. 11; Luke iii. 16; Heb. iv. 12. [See what is said of the philosophic ἐκπύρωσις (book v. cap. i. p. 446, supra, this volume) by our author.…
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Cyprian of Carthage
“Moreover, in the Gospel according to Matthew, John says: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”” — editor's note: Matt. iii. 11.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
As in the preceding words John had explained more at length what he had shortly preached in the words, “Repent ye,” so now follows a more full enlargement of the words, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
John baptizes not with the Spirit but with water, because he had no power to forgive sins; he washes the body with water, but not at the same time the soul with pardon of sin.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
For while as yet the sacrifice had not been offered, nor remission of sin sent, nor the Spirit had descended on the water, how could sin be forgiven? But since the Jews never perceived their own sin, and this was the…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
Why then does he baptize who could not remit sin, but that he may preserve in all things the office of forerunner? As his birth had preceded Christ’s birth, so his baptism should precede the Lord’s baptism.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, John was sent to baptize, that to such as came to his baptism he might announce the presence among them of the Lord in the flesh, as himself testifies in another place, “That He might be manifested to Israel,…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, he baptizes, because it behoved Christ to be baptized. But if indeed John was sent only to baptize Christ, why was not He alone baptized by John? Because had the Lord alone been baptized by John, there would not…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, by this sign of baptism he separates the penitent from the impenitent, and directs them to the baptism of Christ.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Because then he baptized on account of Christ, therefore to them who came to him for baptism he preached that Christ should come, signifying the eminence of His power in the words, “He who cometh after me is mightier…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
There are five points in which Christ comes after John, His birth, preaching, baptism, death, and descent into hell. A beautiful expression is that, “mightier than I,” because he is mere man, the other is God and man.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
As though he had said, I indeed am mighty to invite to repentance, He to forgive sins; I to preach the kingdom of heaven, He to bestow it; I to baptize with water, He with the Spirit.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
When you hear “for He is mightier than I,” do not suppose this to be said by way of comparison, for I am not worthy to be numbered among his servants, that I might undertake the lowest office.
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
Leaving to the Apostles the glory of bearing about the Gospel, to whose beautiful feet was due the carrying the tidings of God’s peace.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, by the feet of Christ we may understand Christians, especially the Apostles, and other preachers, among whom was John Baptist; and the shoes are the infirmities with which he loads the preachers. These shoes all…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
In the other Gospels it is, “whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to loose.” Here his humility, there his ministry is intended; Christ is the Bridegroom, and John is not worthy to loose the Bridegroom’s shoe, that his…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
But since no one can give a benefit more worthy than he himself is, nor to make another what himself is not, he adds, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” John who is carnal cannot give spiritual…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Either the Holy Ghost Himself is a fire, as we learn from the Acts, when there sat as it were fire on the tongues of the believers; and thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled who said, “I am come to send fire on the…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
He does not say, shall give you the Holy Ghost, but “shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost,” shewing in metaphor the abundance of the grace. This further shews, that even under the faith there is need of the will alone…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is plain then that the baptism [ed. note: Two sentences about rebaptizing, wanting in some copies of the original, are omitted by Aquinas. This comment on St. Matthew has apparently passed successively through the…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
He marks the time of our salvation and judgment in the Lord; those who are baptized in the Holy Ghost it remains that they be consummated by the fire of judgment.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
By the fan is signified the separation of a just trial; that it is in the Lord’s hand, means, ‘in His power,’ as it is written, “The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son.”
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
“The floor,” is the Church, “the barn,” is the kingdom of heaven, “the field,” is the world. The Lord sends forth His Apostles and other teachers, as reapers to reap all nations of the earth, and gather them into the…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
This His floor, to wit, the Church, the Lord cleanses in this life, both when by the sentence of the Priests the bad are put out of the Church, and when they are cut off by death.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
The cleansing of the floor will then be finally accomplished, when the Son of Man shall send His Angels, and shall gather all offences out of His kingdom.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
After the threshing is finished in this life, in which the grain now groans under the burden of the chaff, the fan of the last judgment shall so separate between them, that neither shall any chaff pass into the…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
The wheat, i.e. the full and perfect fruit of the believer, he declares, shall be laid up in heavenly barns; by the chaff he means the emptiness of the unfruitful.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
There is this difference between the chaff and the tares, in that the chaff is produced of the same seed as the wheat, but the tares from one of another kind. The chaff therefore are those who enjoy the sacraments of…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
The unquenchable fire is the punishment of eternal damnation; either because it never totally destroys or consumes those it has once seized on, but torments them eternally; or to distinguish it from purgatorial fire…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
If any asks which were the actual words spoken by John, whether those reported by Matthew, or by Luke, or by Mark, it may be shewn, that there is no difficulty here to him who rightly understands that the sense is…
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Cross-references · 30
Parallel passages
Matthew 3:11 and Mark 1:7 share the same wording (11 words).
Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16 share the same wording (23 words).
Cited together with
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.8.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Pseudo-Chrysostom on Matthew 3:11–12 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.8.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in The Enchiridion Chapter 49.
Cited together in The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.6.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 3:11–12 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Concerning Repentance I.8.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on John 1:32–34 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.13.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.13.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.13.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.13.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.13.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Against Heresies IV.4.
Cited together in Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 49.