Matthew 3:11

unto repentance i. e. to be a symbol of the changed life.

whose shoes I am not worthy to bear The work of the meanest slaves. John, great prophet as he was, with influence sufficient to make even Herod tremble for his throne, is unworthy to be the meanest slave of the Stronger One the Son of God.

with the Holy Ghost Lit. in the Holy Ghost. This preposition is used in Greek and especially in Hellenistic Greek to signify the instrument, but it also expresses the surrounding influence or element in which an act takes place. With water=in water; with the Holy Ghost=surrounded by, influenced by the Holy Ghost.

The matured Christian conception of the Holy Ghost would not be present to the mind of John. Some of his disciples at Ephesus said to Paul "we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." Acts 19:2.

fire This metaphor implies: (1) Purification, (2) Fiery zeal or enthusiasm, (3) Enlightenment; all which are gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the ancient hymn by Robert II. of France the third point is brought out:

"Et emitte cælitus

Lucis tuæ radium

Veni lumen cordium."