Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised of him;
Crowds had been coming to the Jordan to confess their sins under John's preaching, and then Jesus walks the long road from Galilee to join them. Why would a man with no sin come to a baptism for people admitting they had done wrong?
The verse marks a turning point. Until now He had lived a private life in Nazareth. Here He steps into public view.
In the thirty years of His private life at Nazareth He had fulfilled His own responsibility as Man before God. He has now come forth from that retirement to take His public place as Mediator for others. The Father has accepted Him as perfectly pleasing: the unblemished Lamb of sacrifice, and also the Priest who can offer for the sins of men.
He did not happen to be passing. He set out for this.
His baptism is indeed the pledge in which He devotes Himself to the path of service that lies before Him. It is His "Behold, I have come," and the Jordan pictures in advance the death "written of Him in the scroll of the book," in its law of sacrifice.
John's baptism was for people confessing sin. Jesus had nothing to confess. That is what makes His arrival so startling.
What a cluster of wonders! Jesus coming to be baptized by John, who was openly preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins. What could bring the Lord Jesus there? For He never confessed sins, and had none to confess. He challenges even His enemies to convict Him of sin. Here was a man without sin, without the smallest particle of self in any form or degree. He was the lowliest and most blessed of men, the One who judged everything according to God. And yet He comes to be baptized! ... What is the clue to this? It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus. It was not the judgment of God that put Him there; it was not any need in Himself that brought Him there; nothing that He had to acknowledge or confess; but it was grace. For on whom in Israel did God's eye look down with compassion? Upon those who were confessing their sins.
Coming to the Jordan meant standing with someone. The question is with whom.
The gracious Lord could not let His people take one step alone. He goes to be baptized by John. He, I need not say, needed no such baptism... The Lord does not identify Himself with rebellious and perverse Israel. He identifies Himself with the path of God, and with those who were walking in it. He makes Himself one of them once they had taken it.
What moved Him to it? Another writer traces it to the Father's will.
The will of the Father was always what moved Jesus. He was the perfect model of man as man should be according to God's thoughts, and for God on the earth. He could always say, in the words of Psalm 16, "I have set the LORD always before me." So He would identify Himself in grace with those in whom the Spirit of God was working... The world despised them. But God in grace had His eye on them. The Lord Jesus openly took His place with them, and so began His ministry.
Standing with sinners carried a cost. One word in Jesus' reply to John shows how far it went.
His use of the word "us" is significant. In being baptized He was identifying Himself with the many who were repenting of their sins. He was in effect accepting the sentence of death for them, for He was not under that sentence Himself. He had joined Himself with sinners. The claims of righteousness could only be met if He took on Himself the full responsibility for their sins. So by His baptism He was pledging Himself to go to the cross. There He would meet the claims of righteousness in full on their behalf.
Some read this scene as the model for Christian baptism. One writer answers that firmly.
It is a strange thing for anyone with the least understanding of Scripture to claim that the Lord was here a pattern of "believer's baptism." Was He baptized as a repentant believer, who was Himself faith's object — not a Christian, but the Christian's Christ? And was it for Him to "fulfill all righteousness," to take a place that was not His? Surely the Father's witness to His own beloved Son should check this strange and unworthy thought.
- Purpose. The hidden years at Nazareth end. He set out from Galilee for this.
- Grace. Nothing in Him needed this baptism. Grace alone brought Him where confession of sin had brought everyone else.
- Company. He joined the few already walking God's path, not the nation at large. The world despised them; He stood with them.
- Pledge. Standing with sinners bound Him to carry their responsibility to the cross.
- Uniqueness. The act was His alone. It is not a pattern for our baptism: He is faith's object, not a repentant believer.
but John urgently forbad him, saying, *I* have need to be baptised of thee; and comest *thou* to me?
Crowds were coming to the Jordan to confess their sins, and then the One John had announced walked down to the water like the rest of them. His protest raises the question every reader faces: why would the sinless One ask for a baptism meant for sinners?
John was preaching repentance to people who came confessing their sins. Then Jesus came to him for baptism.
What a cluster of wonders! Jesus came to be baptized by John, who preached repentance and forgiveness of sins for all to hear. What could bring the Lord Jesus there? For He never confessed sins, and had none to confess. He challenges even His enemies to prove Him guilty of sin. He was a man without sin, without the smallest trace of self in any form or degree. He was the lowliest and most blessed of men. He judged everything according to God. And yet He comes to be baptized! John felt it at once. Jesus was coming to be baptized by him — by the man whose baptism was one of repentance! What is the key to this? It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus. It was not the judgment of God that put Him there; it was not any need in Himself that brought Him there.
John's words say something about Jesus. They also say something about John himself.
The Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is greater than John, and the Baptist bowed before Him in humility and worship. He is the creator of all things. Now He comes to the preacher of repentance and presents Himself for baptism. What a scene! John stood amazed. "He tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?'" In other words: I am the sinner. I need repentance. I deserve to go into that river of death. But You are holy — no evil in You, nothing worthy of death.
The people at the water were humbling themselves before God, and the Spirit had begun that work in them.
Now Jesus presents Himself among the people who were doing this. He is truly the Lord, Jehovah, the righteous Judge of His people. He is the One who was to clear His threshing floor. Yet He takes His place among the faithful remnant who humble themselves before this judgment. He takes the place of the lowest of His people before God… What a perfect testimony of grace! The Saviour identifies Himself, in this grace, with the first movement of the Spirit in the hearts of His own people. He humbles Himself not only by stooping in grace towards them, but by taking His place as one of them, in their true position before God.
John knew Jesus at sight. No one had to point Him out.
On the Lord's approaching John to be baptized, John at once acknowledged Him — acknowledged Him without any introduction. There seems to have been in his soul some sense that this was He. Matt. 3:14. He had, in fact, acknowledged Him even before He was born. Luke 1:44. The world did not know Him, but John knows Him, and so condemns the world.
Knowing who Jesus was is not the same as knowing why He came.
The Baptist could not tell anyone who came to him that their sins were forgiven. Nor could he understand at all why Jesus should take a place with those who had confessed their sins at the Jordan (Matt. 3:14). His mission was only to set God's seal by baptism on those who, by their confession, took their place before God as sinners.
Jesus answered the objection. His answer also gave John a share in the work.
How admirable at this moment is the great prophet, John the Baptist!… By humbling himself in this way, he exalts the personal dignity of his Lord. At the same time, faced with such perfection, he owns his own condition as a sinner. But how much more admirable still is the Saviour Himself! He, the most high, humbles Himself still lower than John, who stooped to the sandals of His feet… He is not content with lowering Himself. Then He adds, "It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." He raises John to a level with Himself, and makes him a companion in carrying out the will of God.
Some read this scene as a model for a believer's baptism. That reading does not hold.
Was He baptized as a penitent believer, when He Himself was faith's object — not a Christian, but the Christian's Christ? And was it "to fulfill all righteousness" for Him to take a place that was not His own? Surely the Father's witness to His own beloved Son should check this strange and unworthy thought.
- Shock — John's baptism was for people repenting and confessing sins. Then the sinless One asked for it.
- Confession — John's protest lifts up Christ's dignity and owns his own state as a sinner.
- Grace — No need in Himself brought Jesus there. Grace did, and it set Him among the lowest of His people.
- Limits — John knew who Jesus was, but not why He stood with those confessing sins.
- Lifted — The answer both overruled John's objection and made him a partner in doing God's will.
But Jesus answering said to him, Suffer [it] now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffers him.
John protests that the roles are backwards: he is the one who needs baptizing. So why does a sinless Man step into a baptism meant for people confessing their sins, and what does He mean by "righteousness"?
Nothing in Jesus needed what John's baptism was for. One writer asks what could possibly bring Him there:
What could bring the Lord Jesus there? For He never confessed sins, and had none to confess... He was a Man without sin, without the smallest trace of self in any form or degree. He was the lowliest and most blessed of men, the One who judged everything according to God. And yet He comes to be baptized!... What is the clue to this? It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus. It was not the judgment of God that put Him there. It was not any need in Himself, nothing He had to acknowledge or confess. It was grace. For on whom in Israel did God's eye look down with compassion? Upon those that were confessing their sins.
The word is easy to skip. Jesus does not say "it is fitting for Me" — He draws John in and gives him a part to play:
The Lord answers, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. In Him it was fulfilling righteousness. Still He takes the lowly place. You, John, have your part to do, I mine. "Us" is not, I believe, a royal "we" — though that is not very important. It refers to John as much as to Jesus.
Another writer reads the reply as firm and gentle at once:
This was indeed a gracious reply, and in it the Lord at once maintained His authority and showed His grace. There was the gentle insistence that His will must be done. At the same time, with special grace, He joined John with Himself in that submission which godly service always involves.
The verse turns on the word "righteousness". One writer defines it by contrast with what the crowd came for:
The people had come to be baptized by John, confessing their sins. He had come fulfilling righteousness — that is, carrying out the will of God.
One writer notes that this righteousness reaches wider than the law:
It is all righteousness that is now to be fulfilled, and not merely the doing of the law. Now it was the righteousness of acknowledging the true state that even the best part of Israel was in.
Jesus took His place with those who were already confessing their sins. One writer draws the line exactly:
The Lord does not identify Himself with rebellious and perverse Israel. He identifies with the path of God, and with those who were walking in it. Yet He makes Himself one of them once they had taken it... He has now taken His place among the godly and upright though feeble sons of men.
Another writer states what that identification did not include:
He identified Himself with them, not in their sin, but in their place before God as righteous.
For the people confessing their sins, the river itself carried a meaning:
A baptism in Jordan, the river of death, and so a "baptism to death"... Death was the righteous penalty of sin, which by grace they were permitted to anticipate... His own fulfilment of righteousness is in going into death for them as their Saviour and their sacrifice. He is moving from His former position as One fulfilling righteousness for Himself. He now takes the position of One fulfilling it for others.
Standing with sinners carried a bill, and He accepted it:
By joining Himself with sinners, He could meet the claims of righteousness in only one way: by taking upon Himself the full responsibility for their sins. So by His baptism He was pledging Himself to go to the cross. There He would perfectly meet the claims of righteousness on their behalf.
The moment He took that place, heaven answered. One writer traces the same pattern into the believer's life:
The moment He had taken this place with His poor people, the heavens were opened. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him — just what has been done to us since the veil was torn. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and sealed; so are we. He was the Beloved Son; we are sons, and know it. Of course, He had it in His own blessed Person, and we are brought in by redemption.
- Grace, not need — He had no sin to confess; what put Him in the Jordan was grace toward those who were confessing theirs.
- Grace joins — "Us" includes John. Christ takes the lowly place and gives His servant a part in it.
- Grace stands with — He stands not with rebellious Israel but with the few on God's path. He shares their place before God, never their sin.
- Grace pays — the Jordan is the river of death. Stepping into it, He moves from fulfilling righteousness for Himself to fulfilling it for others, and pledges Himself to the cross.
- Grace opens heaven — the place He took is the place redemption brings us into: sealed with the Spirit, owned as sons.