Acts 19:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The beginning of the sect of John’s disciples, which survived until modern times, should probably be placed as near as possible to the Gospel period. The disciples of John whom Paul met in Ephesus belonged to the second of these groups. It is unknown whether they became John’s disciples in Palestine and received baptism from him himself, or whether they were drawn into the fellowship of his disciples later. In any case, only this must be noted about them. Though they knew little concerning the person and teaching of Jesus Christ, they considered themselves entitled to be called Christians like the others. Luke calls them μαϑητάς in Acts 19:1. Paul indeed expected to find Christians in them. But when he entered into conversation with them, it became clear that they had as yet received nothing from the glorified Lord Jesus. They did not even know of the Holy Spirit. Paul gladly instructed them concerning the relation of John’s ministry to the ministry of Jesus Christ. He also taught them the relation of John’s baptism to the baptism which brought men into communion with Jesus Christ. This baptism made them partakers of the divine life proceeding from Him. Then he gave them Christian baptism, with the laying on of hands and prayer. And in John’s disciples there appeared the same signs of the descent of the Holy Spirit that had once appeared in the apostles.

He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” That is, when you believed in Jesus Christ. They answered, “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” This answer of John’s disciples cannot be understood to mean that they had no notion at all of the existence of the Holy Spirit. First, one must suppose that these disciples were Jews, since there is no evidence that there were then disciples of John among the Gentiles. In that case, although they could not have had a notion of God as triune in Persons, the idea of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God could not have been foreign to them. Second, as disciples of John and even as believers, they had to know his prophecy concerning baptism with the Holy Spirit through Christ; Mt 3:11. Finally, they do not say that they do not know whether there is a Holy Spirit. They say, “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” That is, when John’s disciples were brought to faith in Christ, they were catechized only in John’s teaching. They had not been told that believers in Christ receive the Holy Spirit. There had been no mention of the Holy Spirit as the gift of faith in Jesus Christ. Then the apostle revealed to them only the preparatory significance of John’s baptism in relation to Christ. He pointed out that, in order to receive salvation, it was necessary to be baptized with Christ’s baptism. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. By laying hands on them, Paul brought down upon them the Holy Spirit. This was plainly shown to all when they began to speak in other tongues and to prophesy. In all they were about twelve men.

One may also think that Paul, by asking them about the Spirit, appeals to their inward testimony concerning the insufficient power of John’s baptism. For when they were baptized, they did not thereby receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore they needed to receive that baptism after which the Holy Spirit is also given. “John’s baptism,” says Ammonius in his commentary on this verse, “had only an impulse toward repentance, but did not have the power to cleanse sins. In this lies the difference between John’s baptism and the baptism of the faithful, because the baptism of the faithful also grants the forgiveness of sins. John, when baptizing, said: I baptize you into Him Who comes after me, and I require that you believe in Him, because He is the Lamb of God. But the one who baptizes truly said: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that you may believe in the consubstantial Trinity.”

Therefore, if repentance is a human property, John’s baptism had to possess the same property. If it had been heavenly, it would have bestowed the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins. But no one forgives sins or gives the Spirit except God alone. Even the Lord Himself said that the Spirit would not descend before He Himself ascended to the Father. What the Lord had not yet accomplished was certainly beyond the power of His servant. Moreover, in the Acts of the Apostles we find that those who had received baptism from John had not obtained the Holy Spirit. They had not even heard of Him. Therefore, that which did not manifest heavenly things was not heavenly.