It must have seemed odd. As crowds of people were responding to the preaching of John, they came forward to be baptized by him. But as one person came to do so, John tries to stop him. Is he beyond hope? Is he too sinful to be forgiven by God? Is his heart not in the right place?

Whenever there’s a commotion like this, it’s sure to attract attention. Everybody’s eyes would be fixed on the exchange. As John speaks in Matthew 3:14, everyone’s assumptions about the reasons for refusing baptism to this stranger are ruled out: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

John couldn’t help but feel his own sinfulness before Jesus. To see Jesus responding to his call to repentance seemed strangely inappropriate. The tables should be turned. With Jesus, John was the student, not the teacher. But Jesus persisted. With the words, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” John relented (Matthew 3:15). What did Jesus mean and what do His words tell us about baptism?

1. As an act of obedience

John called people to repent (Matthew 3:2) and as people responded, they confessed their sins and were baptized as an expression of their submission to God’s will and appeal for His forgiveness. Baptism was a way of saying, “I’m done with the dirt of my old life. I want God’s cleansing and rule from now on.” Obviously, there was much of that symbolism that didn’t fit Jesus’ sinless life. He didn’t have any sins to confess. He didn’t have anything to repent of. But He was committed to the Father and wanted to express His perfect obedience to His will. He wasn’t going to let pride or even the potential for other people’s misunderstanding get in the way of letting any act of righteousness go undone.

2. As an act of identification

It was inevitable that Jesus would go on to have a far bigger ministry than John. He would call His own disciples and invite people to repent and be baptized. But by first standing in line with those waiting to be baptized by John, Jesus identified with the people. It was His way of affirming John’s ministry and expressing to the crowds, “I long to see the kingdom of heaven, too. I want more than the religion of this day is offering also.”

3. As an example

It’s Jesus’ example in baptism that is perhaps most motivating in our own lives. Through His baptism, He showed that before He led, He was willing to follow. Before He called others to be baptized, He first submitted to it Himself. At every point, He led by example.

He stood where we stand, and in humility, even with someone trying to talk Him out of it, He went under the waters in obedience to the Father. People’s excuses for not getting baptized are as diverse as people themselves. But if Jesus needed to be baptized to “fulfill all righteousness,” is there any way we can justify not responding?

In awe of Him,

Paul