Cleaning and Deep Cleaning

One of my teachers, Thomas Constable, said that people wash their cars’ windshields and drive at night, patting themselves on what a great cleaning they did until cars with bright lights come against them. Then they see the dirt they missed. There’s cleaning and deep cleaning!

People who accepted John’s cleansing with water wondered among themselves if he was the anointed one, the Messiah (the Christ) they were waiting for (Luke 3:15). Knowing their discussion, John said,

“I wash you with water. But another will wash you with fiery Holy Spirit” (Luke 3:16)

When dishes are greasy and sticky, we need hot water to wash them. Hot water breaks down the molecules, making them easier to remove. Fire does a deep cleanse compared to water. A fire at the Shenandoah National Park burned up 1,800 acres of land. At that site, the forestry department has a sign saying, “Fire removed the unwanted undergrowth and helped plants have a new life.” Fire does a much deeper cleansing than water does.

Whereas John washed (i.e., baptized) the Israelites with water, Jesus would wash them with the fiery Holy Spirit. The construction – “with Holy Spirit and fire” – is a figure of speech, hendiadys, meaning “fiery Holy Spirit.” Jesus would do a deeper cleaning by the Holy Spirit than John did with water. The Spirit’s work would resemble farmers’ work. Farmers used winnowing forks to clear the threshing floors and gather the grains in their barns and the chaff in the field to burn to become fertilizer for the next generation of plants (Luke 3:17). In both ways, the Spirit would purify the Israelites, as farmers cleared the threshing floors.

Prophet Ezekiel prophesied about a time when God would start cleansing people with water only to conclude with his Spirit cleansing them (Ezek 36:25–27). That time had come; John and Jesus together would bring about cleaning and deep cleaning among his people.

Since Jesus would do the deep cleaning with the Holy Spirit, he was greater than John. John said,

“One stronger than me will come, whose sandal straps – I am not worthy to loose.” (Luke 3:16)

Rabbis designated the task of losing someone’s sandal straps to slaves. John thought he was unworthy of being Jesus’s slave. John wasn’t saying this to be “humble” but highlighted the importance of people accepting and following Jesus.

That same Holy Spirit even now cleanses his people. Like farmers, he gathers the grains and uses the chaff to bring about more grains. But first, they must be burned and purified. When trials come, we want to avoid them. But like forest fires, they have a way of purifying the undergrowth in our lives so that new life can begin.