Matthew 3:15
Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.
But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.
This seems, on the surface, to be one of the more obscure statements that Jesus would make during His ministry. Along with “You must be born again” (John 3:3), and “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” John 6:53) But the real reason Jesus made this statement, that it fulfilled all righteousness, simply has to do with the baptism that was occurring at that moment in time. John the Baptist was at the Jordan River baptizing repentant sinners. Those who were remorseful for their sins and sinful life were coming to John to receive a symbolic cleansing, a washing away of sins. The baptism did not, of course, have any real effect on washing sins away from the sinner, but the symbolism of purification was powerful in that the subject was truly remorseful for sinning before God and wanted to change. John himself explained what he was doing, “I baptize you with water for repentance” verse 11. The verses just prior prove that a false repentance, such as your typical Pharisee and Sadducee, was worthless without the fruit.
So John was calling for a lifestyle change, an attitude change and called on repentant sinners to be baptized; and thus the crowds came out to John for that reason.
But Jesus had no sin. He was, as John stated openly, “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 As a sinless human being He was the only person that could be the sacrificial substitution to atone for all mankind’s sins, to which the Old Testament sacrificial system was looking forward.
And when a person’s submitted to John for baptism this afforded a measure of righteousness, in that the first required step to restore one’s relationship with God, which sin had severed, was remorse for having sinned and a wish for forgiveness.
Now, since Jesus’ ultimate reason for being sent from God the Father, to be born on earth, under the Law, from a virgin mother, which incidentally fulfilled a number of centuries old prophesies, Jesus was, in effect, carrying the weight and absorbing the guilt of all of the sins that had ever been committed as well as all future sins, and would atone for them. He would accept, willingly, the punishment due sinners. Our meager mind just can not comprehend the monumental weight of all that horrid sin and rebellion against a God that gave them all life and breath! But Jesus accepted it all in His person, becoming cursed in our place. And thus with all that sin on His back He wanted to submit to baptism for everyone; one awesome symbolical representation of His repentance for all of our sin. And this is why the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews could say in chapter 12:2, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
So Jesus accepting the baptism from John was not merely identifying Himself with humanity, but that He was initiating His ministry on earth with the unmistakable declaration that He was going to be put to death as a propitiation for the sins of mankind. And since the opening scene in God’s final act of redemption history began with His cousin John baptizing those who were remorseful, representing their desire for God’s righteousness, Jesus took this opportunity to be baptized for the world.
[Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Lockman.org]