[I'm hoping to publish everything Jesus said during his earthly ministry on my blog under the title, "Things Jesus said". I'll go in the order that the quotes occur in the bible, starting with the gospel of Matthew. I'll also post a little commentary.]
Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
Commentary: In Isaiah 64:1 Isaiah cries out to God "Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence –"
Over 700 years passed between that heartfelt plea of the prophet to God, and it's answer. But in the person of Jesus Christ, God did come down to earth to dwell with His people, and because of the work he did during that time on our behalf, the heavens were forever opened to all who believe in Him. Now Saved by our Redeemer, who was willing to humble himself, with an infinite stoop by which he left the glory of heaven for us, and accepted humiliation and death, the way is open for us to enter into the very heaven he left, and dwell eternally with our Father.
In these verses we see the beginning of Christ's public ministry. The time is now right for Jesus to begin the work for which He was born. But before Jesus can begin, He first goes to John to be baptized.
But why does Jesus go to John to be Baptized? I ask that question because it doesn't seem to make sense does it? John's baptism was connected with repentance. In other words, the people who came to John to be baptized, did so admitting that they were sinners in need of salvation, and who were sorry and genuinely repentant for their sins. And yet Jesus comes to him to be Baptized. Jesus, the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, who was born without the stain of original sin, and who has been perfectly faithful to the Law of God in all it's particulars, comes to John and asks to be baptized. John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
John is incredulous! When the supposedly righteous, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him to be baptized he saw right through them. The Prophet knew that their outward show of righteousness didn't spring from a heart that was right with God and that it was in fact merely filthy rags, so John condemned them for their hypocrisy. But when Jesus comes to Him, John knows through the instruction of the Holy Spirit that this is the Messiah - John points out Jesus to his disciples the very next day and says of Him "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36). He also knows that Jesus has no sins of His own to repent of.
It's worth noting briefly here the difference between appearance and reality in spiritual matters, and the need to be spiritually discerning. John is able to look at the religious authorities, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and then this lowly and humble Galilean carpenter, Jesus, and to know that they are spiritual counterfeits and Christ is the real thing! But in the same situation, would we have been able to do so? Too often I believe in religious matters we are taken in by outward appearances, and we can even fool ourselves. Let us remember that God looks upon the heart, not the outward appearance, and to the extent to which we are able, we should do the same.
John takes one look at Jesus and knowing his own sins and need of forgiveness says to Him "I NEED TO BE BAPTIZED BY YOU AND YOU ARE COMING TO ME?" How can I, a sinner, baptize the sinless one? How can I, a minister, baptize the one in whose name I am ministering?
Now, if some of the liberal theories about Christ were true, it is at this point that Jesus would have said something like, "No, no, man, you've got it all wrong, I'm just a wandering mystic sage. I'm a sinner just like you, so don't get all uptight, dude, it's cool. Oh and by the way, Consider the Lillies. Know what I mean?"
But that isn't what Jesus says, he answers John: "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." In other words, Jesus says, yes, it's true, this would seem to be a reversal of the correct order of things. But, it has to be this way, in order for all righteousness to be fulfilled.
By doing this thing, Jesus is doing the work of redemption.
1) Because He is now functioning as the Substitute and Representative of His sheep whom He has come to redeem. He is even now looking forward to Golgotha and His crucifixion. The sheep are sinful and guilty, Jesus is sinless, but now in this baptism He inextricably associates himself with them. He undergoes this humiliation on their behalf as their representative.
2) He did it as what scripture calls the firstfruits, in other words he set the Divine pattern for all His Spiritual children who would come after Him. Paul says commenting on Christ's resurrection: "But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming." (1 Cor. 15:23) Christ sets the pattern and we follow after Him, He was Baptized, and we who are His must be as well.
3) This washing may well have been the ceremonial washing of the high priest spoken of Lev. 8 that was necessary before he took up his office. In this case, Christ is being ceremonially prepared to become the true High Priest of His people, and this would seem to be a fitting example of what the author of Hebrews said of him in Hebrews 2:17 "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."
This then is the moment at which Christ formally embarks upon his work of redemption, in which he will take upon Himself the sins of all His sheep and suffer in their stead. Jesus is accepting His mission, and beginning to walk that road that will take Him to Calvary.
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