I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit — the contrast between John's water baptism and Jesus' Spirit baptism is not a contrast between inferior and superior ceremonies but between the sign and the reality. John's water baptism is the outward act of repentance; Jesus' Spirit baptism is the inward transformation that the repentance prepares for. The promise echoes Joel 2:28–29 (I will pour out my Spirit on all people) and Ezekiel 36:26–27 (I will put my Spirit in you). Acts 1:5 records Jesus quoting John's prophecy before Pentecost, confirming that the Spirit's outpouring is the fulfillment of what John announced by the Jordan.

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