Prior to getting into the specifics of what is being said in Matthew 3:11 by John the Immerser, we need to lay some groundwork concerning who the Pharisees and the Sadducees were.  We realize this is somewhat long winded but we truly believe it will better help you understand what is happening in Matthew 3:11 as well as Jesus’ ministry and the rest of the New Testament.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees were two groups – sects, divisions, or denominations – of the Jews.  Jews here, of course, is a general term for God’s chosen people under the law of Moses.  After the division of the earthly kingdom – the reign – of God following the death of Solomon in about 931 BC, the northern kingdom – generally referred to as Israel – fell to the Assyrians in approximately 722 BC.  Many of those people – the 10 northern tribes – were deported by the Assyrians and other people from other conquered parts of the Assyrian Empire were imported into the lands of ten tribes.  These imported people comingled with the Israelites left behind and became known as the Samaritans.  The southern kingdom – Judah (hence the name for the people of Judah, Jew) – was eventually conquered by the Babylonians in roughly 586 BC and the temple built by Solomon was destroyed.  Some of the Jews were taken in captivity to Babylon but the vast majority were left behind and remained in the land occupied by the tribe of Judah.

The Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians.  Under the Persians the Jews were allowed to rebuild both the city of Jerusalem, the wall of the city and the temple.  This “second” temple was begun in 520 BC and was finished after some difficulty in 516 BC.

Later Alexander the Great of Macedonia in Greece conquered the then “known” world but he died in approximately 323 BC leaving NO heir to his kingdom.  His kingdom was then split into four parts ruled by four of his “generals,” and became the Seleucid Empire (basically the old Persian Empire, aka Syria), the Ptolemaic Empire (basically the old Egyptian Empire), the Antigonid Dynasty (Macedonia and Greece) and the Kingdom of Pergamon (in what we know of today as Turkey or Asia Minor).  One of the most important aspects of the conquest by Alexander was that whatever and whoever he conquered he exposed to Greek culture: he – and his successors – sought to spread Greek culture which included their “religion” everywhere they went.

Now, go back to the Jews who were deported and captive in Babylon.  According to the Internation Standard Bible Encyclopedia in its article on “Synagogue,” “… the synagogue was, in the time of our Lord, one of the most important religious institutions of the Jews …”  Further the Synagogue, “… must have come into being during the Babylonian exile. At that time the more devout Jews, far from their native land, having no sanctuary or altar, no doubt felt drawn from time to time, especially on Sabbath and feast days, to gather round those who were specially pious and God-fearing, in order to listen to the word of God and engage in some kind of worship.”

All this is important because by 200 BC, the “Holy Land” was and had been for years, basically since the division of Alexander’s empire, a crossroads and a battle ground between the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria.  The Seleucids are particularly important because they – the Seleucids – were the ones who basically destroyed the rebuilt temple and set up their false gods in the sanctuary of the temple in and around, or just shortly after 200 BC.  This brought on the Hasmonean Resistance or the Maccabean Rebellion which began in about 167 BC and lasted some three years until 164 BC but had long lasting results.

As you have probable realized from your study of the Old Testament, it, the Old Testament, says very little about “the resurrection” or of life after death.  The main emphasis of the Old Testament was a long and fruitful life in the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey.  Under the Syrian king Antiochus who severely persecuted the Jews, a long life was not something most Jews could look forward to so many Jews began to look forward to life after death, a resurrection.  The persecution plus the desire on the part of some of the Jews led to the rebellion of 167 to 164 BC.

When the Romans conquered Samaria, Galilee and Judea they established a somewhat lenient government.  They allowed, in many ways, the Jews as well as other conquered peoples, to government themselves WITH Roman oversight.  During the Hasmonean Period, most Jews recognized the Hasmonean court in Judea and presided over by Alexander Jannaeus (one of the Hasmoneans) as the governmental and religious authority.  After 76 BC that court or council was ruled by the wife of Alexander Jannaeus, wife, Queen Salome Alexander and became known as the Synhedrion or Sanhedrin.  Under Aulus Gabinius five synedra were formed in about 57 BC and all this eventually evolved into the Sanhedrin or, more specifically the Great Sanhedrin that sat in Jerusalem and exerted control of Jews life and religion no only in Judea, Galilee and Samaria but throughout the world through the authority passed down to the various synagogues.

The council (Great Sanhedrin) itself was compossed of 70 members PLUS the Jewish high priest.  MOST of those member were come from one of two sects of the Jews that had developed duirng the rebellion, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  During the rebellion several different teaching, philosophies, and doctrines began to circulate which divided the Jews into sects or divisions.  Two of these sects were the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Pharisees were the more traditional group and favored a strict interpretation of God’s law.  In fact they built a “hedge” around the law to protect the law from the common people – basically anyone who was not a Pharisee – because the Pharisee consider the average Jews to be to uneducated and too ignorant and too lowly to handle the law.  This “hedge” led” to the requirements and the tradition we read Jesus denouncing in the various gospel accounts.  Some of their basic beliefs were, a resurrection from the dead, opposition to anything “imported” from the Greek or Roman culture.  Overall they believed in a strict adherence to both the written and oral Torah, including the concept of the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife, the coming of a messiah and the idea of rewards for good deeds and punishment for evil.  The Pharisees were the largest of the Jewish sects.

The Sadducees also sprang from the rebellion.  They were less traditional and tended to tolerate if not adapt Romans and Greek culture.  They put a lot of emphasis on the ceremonial of sacrifice.  They denied the immortality of the soul and the idea of a resurrection.  Neither did they believe in spirits or angels.  They did not believe in rewards and punishment for sin.  They were a smaller sect than the Sadducees but because they found favor from the Romans they held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin.

Both sects opposed Jesus for various reason but largely because He came claiming to the the “King of the Jews” and if successful they – both groups – would lose the power they had exerted over the people for a century or more.

Against all this background, first John the Immerser is born and then, six months later Jesus is born.

Matthew 3 begins a new chapter in the life and ministry of Jesus.  Chapters 1 and 2 introduced Jesus to Matthew’s readers, remembering that Matthew wrote primarily to the Jews.  After addressing Jesus’ physical lineage to show he is from the lineage of David, and writing about His birth and early childhood Matthew turns to Jesus being baptized (immersed) by John the Immerser as He begins His ministry here on earth.

Matthew begins this segment of his account by telling of John’s message and WHO he was in the scheme of things, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’”  As John began to preach his message Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the people in the district around the Jordan were going out to him, and “they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.”

In the midst of these events, Pharisees and Sadducees came out to John also to be baptized, that is immersed.  When John sees them he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.  And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” – Matthew 3:7 to 12.

First, why would John who was preaching repentance because the reign of heaven is at hand denounce these Pharisees and Sadducees?  Both parties were aloof, conceited and arrogant.  The Pharisees “knew” they were better than others.  In Luke 18:11 Jesus characterized Pharisees as praying, “God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.”  The Pharisees and the Sadducees did not suddenly develop these attitudes during the physical lifetime of Jesus: they had been evolving and developing over decades and were full grown and mature as John began his preaching.  John was calling people to return to the LORD and as baptizing them “as they confessed their sins.”

Consider what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 6:16 and following, “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”  Read the accounts of the gospel in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Read Acts and read Paul’s letters when he mentions the Jews and see if you can find ONE of these things the LORD hates of which these Pharisees and Sadducees were not guilty. 

Jesus himself used these same words to describe Pharisees in Matthew 12:34 and the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew 23:33.  In Matthew 12, Jesus had just cast a demon out of a man and the multitudes were asking, “ This man cannot be the Son of David, can he? – verse 23.  The Pharisees then said, “ This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” – verse 24.  This then led Jesus to inform everyone that He cast out the demon by the Spirit of God, verse 28, proving the reign (kingdom) of God “has come upon you,” verse 28, but, He might have added, you are too sinful to recognize it when it smacks you in the face.  Jesus then explains that these Pharisees can blaspheme (slander, rail, or reproach – Mounce) and be forgiven UNLESS the speak slander, or reproach the Holy Spirit: if they are guilty of that, “it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.” – Matthew 12:32.

In Matthew 23 Jesus is speaking to “multitudes and to His disciples” and He is denouncing the scribes and Pharisees who have “seated themselves in the chair of Moses.”  He then provides a list of things they have done and things they have imposed upon God’s people acting as if they were Moses, the giver of the law.  Jesus then pronounces “woe” (calamity– Mounce; an exclamation of grief – Strong and Thayer) on them for several reasons on verses 13 to 30 all of which, in one way or another, point to their hypocrisy.

Back to Matthew 3.  In verse 8 then John calls on these Pharisees and Sadducees to truly repent: not just for show and not just to make points among their colleagues but true repentance which will result from actual humbleness, meekness, and a recognition that, as we would say in East Texas, “you ain’t (aren’t) all you claim to be.”

In verse 9 John put a complete halt to the idea that just because they are from the physical lineage of Abraham that they, the Jews and particularly the Pharisees and Sadducees, were something special.  They had fallen from God when they failed to keep the law of God given to them through Moses.  Later, Paul would address this in Romans 8 and 9 when he explained and demonstrated the difference between the flesh and the spiritual.

In verse 10 then, John says in effect, “Ok, its too late.  You had you chance and you blew it.  God has had enough and He is going to chop down the tree you have planted and which you have grown because it is not bearing the fruit I desire.  Therefore, unless the tree bears the fruit I desire – and your tree ain’t doing it – I am going to cut it down and throw it into the fire and burn it up.”

Behind this statement of John in verse 10 is the idea that, “I, John, am not going to do this: the LORD is pronouncing this sentence on you and that sentence is not reversable.  It is a done deal because of the way you turned you back on God.”

Then comes Matthew 3:11.  First, John explains his baptism is with (or in) water for repentance.  This is different from the baptism demanded, that is required by Jesus.  The baptism Jesus required was to “make disciples” – Matthew 28:19; it was for salvation – Mark 16:16; it was for the forgiveness of sins – Acts 2:38; it was to provide man with a new birth – Romans 6:1 to 4 and see John 3:3 to 6; it is an appeal to God for a clean conscience based on, that is through the power of God demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus – I Peter 3:21.

John next explains that one is coming who is mightier than John and that one will baptize with (or in) the Holy Spirit and with (or in) fire.

Baptize is a word which has become so much associated with a supposed “sacrament” or “ceremony” that all most people thing of when the word is used is the idea of initiating someone into Jesus, or into “the church.”  We forget that one of the meaning of the word is “to overwhelm” – Thayer.  This is the sense in which John is using the word here in Matthew 3:11.  The one coming after John is going to overwhelm with (or in) the Holy Spirit and with (or in) fire.”

Jesus promised His disciples:

John 14:16: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever …”

John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

John 15:26: “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me …”

John 16:7: “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Why did the apostles need a helper?  Because even at the end of His ministry they still did not fully understand His message.  For one thing, when Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” these men were still influenced by and clinging to what they had heard at the hands of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, and the priests, that the Messiah was coming back to establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem from which the Jews would rule the world.  Even after being with, traveling with, and listening to Jesus preach and teach for more than 3 years; even after His crucifixion, His burial and His resurrection these men still did not fully comprehend Jesus.  Just before He ascended back into heaven they asked Him in Acts 1:6, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”  They still did not understand the nature of the reign of Jesus.

That question, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” came in response to the statement by Jesus in Acts 1:4 & 5.  Jesus told the apostles to go to Jerusalem and “to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which you heard of from Me.; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  Then, in answer to the question concerning the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, Jesus answer in Acts 1:7 & 8, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Here in Acts 1 is the key to understanding Matthew 3:11 and the baptism – the overwhelming – of the Holy Spirit.  Just a few days after Jesus instructed the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait, we read, “And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” – Acts 2:1 to 4.

Some who observed this happen to the apostles were amazed while other were mocking them.  That is when Peter stood up and preached the good news, the gospel, of Jesus at long last fully understanding and explaining exactly who Jesus was, and what God had done, the resurrection, PROVING that Jesus was, in fact, who He said He was.  Now, with the baptism – the overwhelming – of the Holy Spirit the apostles were taught and could remember all that Jesus had said to them, John 14:26.  The purpose of this baptism – this overwhelming – of and by the Holy Spirit was to provide the apostles with the ability to preach the good news as Jesus had commanded them, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remotest parts of the earth, Acts 1:8.  That power included not just the ability to understand what they had been taught but to remember it in detail and then to spread it even if it had to be done in a language unknown to them.  Thus the whole purpose of the overwhelming with (or in) the Holy Spirit was to confirm and to spread the word, the gospel.

This overwhelming with (or in) the Holy Spirit occurred one other time, in Acts 10.  In the first part of Acts 10 we are introduced to a man from Caesarea, a centurion, Cornelius by name who was a Gentile.  He is described as “a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually.”  In a vision an angel of God calls to Cornelius and instructs him – Cornelius – to send for Simon, Peter the apostle.  Cornelius send messengers to Peter and while these messengers were “approaching the city” Peter fell into a trance and saw a vision of his own, Acts 10:10 and 11.  In this vision Peter saw all manner of animals and birds, both clean an unclean and a voice told him, “Arise, Peter kill and eat.”  At first Peter refused saying, “ By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”  The voice then responded saying, “ What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”  This happened three times and at this point the messengers arrived from Cornelius.  Peter is still on the roof, somewhat confused and contemplating the vision he had seen when the Holy Spirit told him to go to Cornelius “without misgivings.”

Cornelius was a Gentile and according to the traditions of the Jews Peter was not to eat or remain in the house of a Gentile.  Peter accompanied the messengers back to the house of Cornelius and in verse 28 explains to Cornelius, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.  That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. And so I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”  Cornelius then tells Peter of the vision he had in which he was instructed to send for Peter.  Peter then understands the vision he had and preaches the good new to Cornelius and his household.

While Peter was preaching, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.” – Acts 10:44.  Peter and those with him, at that point recognized, “the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also.” – verse 45 and thus they, these Gentiles were now able to be baptized in the name of Jesus just as those lost souls had been on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The purpose of this second overwhelming with (or in) the Holy Spirit was to confirm that now the gospel was to be spread to the entire world, not just to the Jews.

These two instances, Acts 2 and Acts 10 are the only two instances I read of in the New Testament where the Holy Spirit overwhelmed people and in both cases it was for the specific purpose of providing the capability or of spreading the good news to the lost.

So, the baptism with (or in) the Holy Spirit occurred in Acts 2 and Acts 10.  But, what is the baptism with (or in) fire in Matthew 3:11.  Some say this baptism with (or in) fire is speaking of the persecution the early Christians experienced.  They point to I Peter 1:6 to 9 which says, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

However, that does not fit the context of Matthew 3.  The context was set in verse 7 where John called the Pharisees and the Sadducees, “ You brood of vipers” and asked them, “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  John then told them if they wanted to escape that wrath that was to come they should, “Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.”  But, they were not going to do that because they had Abraham as their father and that was where they trust, their dependence lay.  BUT, that was not enough and, verse 10, God has had enough, He has rejected you and is cutting the tree (Judaism) down by its roots.

While I am baptizing with (or in) water for repentance, later the one coming after John will either overwhelm with (or in) the Holy Spirit or He will overwhelm with (or in) fire.  Fire is frequently used as a means of punishment.  For example, Jeremiah 15:14 says, “Then I will cause your enemies to bring it Into a land you do not know; For a fire has been kindled in My anger, It will burn upon you.”  Jesus Himself said that “those who commit lawlessness” will be “cast into the furnace of fire.”

This is the fire of which we read in Revelation 20:14 & 15, “And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This fits the context of Matthew 3 because in verse 12 John says, “ And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Therefore, to answer your question, the baptism with (or in) the Holy Spirit occurred twice: once in Acts 2 and once in Acts 10 to assist and to spread the gospel of Jesus.  The baptism with (or in) fire will occur at the final day of judgment when those who do not chose to follow Jesus – those whose names are not found in the book of life – are cast with the devil, death, and hades into the lake of fire.