In Matthew 3:11, who is the baptizer and who is baptized with the Holy Spirit?
In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist is the baptizer with water unto repentance, while the mightier one coming after him—Jesus the Christ—is the baptizer who will baptize the Jews with, or into, the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Les explains that Matthew 3:11 records John the Baptist speaking to Jews, not Gentiles. John says, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance,” but the one coming after him is mightier, whose shoes John is not worthy to bear. That coming one is the Christ, the Lord Jesus, and He shall baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Les puts it in legal terms: Jesus is going to be the baptizer, and He will baptize the Jews—the ones John is addressing—into the Holy Spirit.
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Who is 'he that cometh after me' in Matthew 3:11?
In Matthew 3:11, 'he that cometh after me' refers to Christ. John is speaking, and the context identifies the coming one as Christ, the promised King, who is mightier than John and whose shoes John is not worthy to bear.
Who is the baptizer that John the Baptist refers to in Matthew 3:11?
John the Baptist identifies the coming one as Jesus the Christ, the Lord Jesus. Though John baptizes with water unto repentance, he declares that the mightier one after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The context explicitly says this promised baptizer is the Christ.