Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

"I have a baptism to undergo"
Luke 12:50

"I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!" (Luke 12:49-50)

We have already examined the earlier part of this passage that had been described as containing "obscure expression … [and] obscure language"^F1 and lacking in precise meaning. The fire could have spoken of Spirit baptism as in Acts 2:3, indeed John the Baptist predicted that the Messiah would baptize with the “Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16; Matthew 3:11). He went on, however, to talk not of power but of judgement, not of tongues but of burning the chaff. We concluded, therefore, that the passage spoke of judgement and division rather than power or preaching.

In the same way, baptism can be interpreted variously. There were baptisms for purity, healing, conversion, and repentance, and also of the Holy Spirit. Which of these, or another, was Jesus referring to and why did it distress him so?

The language of this baptism, "I have a baptism to be baptised with" is awkward and the Ethiopic version reads it as, "with which I shall baptise", instead and so it could refer to his future pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself did receive affirmation and possibly power from on high at his own baptism by John. This had already happened though and Jesus is looking forward to another still future baptism and it seems unlikely in the overall context of destruction and division.

The doctrine of the sinlessness of Jesus makes it difficult to interpret the baptism as one for purity although Jesus insisted that he received John’s baptism for repentance. It may hint at the ritual washing required of Aaron and the priests before entering the sanctuary and especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 8:6; 16:4). Jesus was of course already clean before he took on the atonement of the world, though the symbolism may be relevant.

Jewish sources speak of baptisms with fire; for example, in the Talmud^F2 one puts the question:

"In what does he (God,) dip/immerse/baptise? You will say in water, as it is written, "who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?" Another replies, "he dips in fire"; as it is written, "for behold the Lord will come with fire". What is the meaning of "baptism in fire?" He answers, according to the mind of Rabbah, the root of "dipping in the fire", is what is written; "all that abides not the fire, you shall make go" through the water."

Dipping or baptising, in the fire of the law, is a phrase used elsewhere by the Jews.^F3 Jewish sources also say:

"the holy blessed God baptises with fire, and the wise shall understand"^F4

Zechariah 2:5 is interpreted in the Jerusalem Talmud with fire in a positive sense:

"Jerusalem was destroyed by fire, "by fire it shall be built again"; as it is said, Zechariah 2:5 "For I, say the Lord, will be to her a wall of fire round about"."^F5

So fire and baptism can have many senses.

Returning to Luke 12:49 and 50, we should notice that the verses are parallelistic (as in Hebrew poetic parallelism) and may be related rather than separated in meaning. F.F. Bruce interprets the verses separately but an Hebraist would notice the parallelism between fire and baptism, kindled and accomplished:

"I came / to send fire on the earth; / and what will I if it be already kindled?
and I have a baptism / to be baptized with; / and how am I straitened till it be accomplished"

Behind the Greek, therefore, lie Jesus' Hebrew words betrayed by the Hebrew parallelism. "I came" in Greek can be translated back into Hebrew as the idiomatic "I have come in order to...", similarly the "what" of v.49 can also be "how" in Hebrew, perfectly mirroring the "how" of v.50. If we retranslate the Greek "to be baptised with" into Hebrew we have two possible translations one of which restores the possible sense "to baptise with", again paralleling v.49, "to send". Thus Jesus may be the firelighter and the baptiser.

Jesus elsewhere, though, refers to his later baptism as his suffering and death ("are you able ... to be baptised with my baptism", Mark 10:38) and it is interesting that the phrase “it is accomplished” uses the same Greek wording, τελεω teleô, as that of John 19:30 when Jesus utters the “it is finished” words on the cross. Paul, later, writes to the Roman church about being baptised into Jesus’ death (Romans 6:3,4).

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D., A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments.
F2: Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrim, 39.1.
F3: Tzeror Hammor, 104.4 & 142.3 & 170.1.
F4: R. Menachem in Lev.8. apud Ainsworth in Gen. 17.12.
F5: Jerusalem Talmud, Taaniot, 65.3. Seder Tepillot, 23.2. Ed. Basil.

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