Acts 1:5 - Exposition

Indeed for truly, A.V. Ye shall be baptized , etc. (Comp. Matthew 3:11 ; Luke 3:16 ; John 1:33 .) St. Peter refers to this saying of the Lord's in his address to the Church of Jerusalem ( Acts 11:16 ), and the record of it here may be an indication that St. Luke derived his information of these early events from Peter. A curious question arises as to the baptism of the apostles themselves. When were they baptized, and by whom? Chrysostom says, "They were baptized by John." But it is evident, from John 3:22 ; John 4:1 , John 4:2 , that converts were baptized with Christian, as distinct from John's, baptism in our Lord's lifetime, and hence it may seem probable, especially considering that St. Paul was baptized, that the apostles may have been baptized by Christ (Bishop Wordsworth On John 4:2 ). If so, the baptism with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was the complement of that baptism, not the substitute for it. "In our case," says Chrysostom, "both (the baptism of water and of the Spirit) take place under one act, but then they were divided."