“with holy spirit.” This is the gift of holy spirit. The Messiah will baptize every person with either the gift of holy spirit or the fire of God’s judgment (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). The record here in Mark is different than the records in Matthew and Luke. Matthew and Luke focus on sinners (Pharisees, Sadducees, tax collectors, etc., who need to repent or they will be “baptized in fire,” (be thrown into the Lake of Fire after the Judgment). In contrast, Mark focuses on the people of Judea and Jerusalem who were humble and were making the journey to see John the Baptist and accept his baptism of repentance and confess their sins. Those humble people were not in danger of the Lake of Fire, so it is not mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. The book of Acts records that Jesus baptizes in Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33).

[For more information on the phrase “holy spirit or fire,” see commentary on Luke 3:16. For more information on the uses of “holy spirit,” see Appendix 6: Usages of “Spirit.” For more information on the difference between God, the Holy Spirit, and God’s gift to people, the holy spirit, see Appendix 11, “What is the Holy Spirit?”]