For John truly baptized with water
Or "in water", as he himself says, ( Matthew 3:11 ) John's baptism was water baptism, an immersion of persons in water: he was the first administrator of it, and therefore is here mentioned by name; and his, and the baptism of the Spirit, are opposed; for there were others, as the disciples of Christ, that baptized in water as well as John: and these words are not to be understood of the words of the Lord, by the mouth of John, which the disciples heard, for they were not then called when John spoke the words in ( Matthew 3:11 ) nor indeed are they the same with these; but these are the words of Christ himself, and which the apostles heard from his own mouth, as is clear from ( Acts 11:16 ) though they are not recorded by any of the evangelists; and these are not the only words which Luke repeats, that the evangelists are silent about; see ( Acts 20:35 )
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost;
that is, by himself; for it is Christ's prerogative to baptize with the Spirit, as John foretold of him, and it designs such an extraordinary and plentiful donation of the gifts of the Spirit, as may be expressed by a baptism; in which the apostles, on the day of "Pentecost", were, as it were, to be immersed, and with them covered; as Cyril of Jerusalem F8 observes,
``as he, (o endunwn en toiv udasi) , "who is plunged in water, and baptized", is encompassed by the water on every side, so are they that are wholly baptized by the Spirit.''Not many days hence;