He said (εκεινος ειπεν). Explicit and emphatic pronoun as in verse John 1:8, referring to God as the one who sent John (verse John 1:6).

With the Holy Spirit (εν πνευματ αγιω). "In the Holy Spirit." Here again one needs the background of the Synoptics for the contrast between John's baptism in water (John 1:26) and that of the Messiah in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16).