Matthew 3:13-17, Isaiah 42:1, Psalm 2:7
The Question John Asked
When Jesus came to John at the Jordan to be baptised, John tried to prevent him: "I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?" (Matthew 3:14). The question is exactly right. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus had no sins to repent of. What was He doing?
Jesus' answer: "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15). He was not being baptised for His own need — He was identifying with the sinful humanity He came to save.
The Theological Significance
The baptism of Jesus is His formal commissioning and public identification as the Servant of the Lord. Several things converge at this moment:
He identifies with sinners. The one who knew no sin stands in the water of repentance alongside those who do. This identification reaches its fullest expression at the cross — where He who had no sin became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The baptism anticipates the cross.
He fulfils Israel's calling. Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea and was constituted as God's son (Hosea 11:1). Jesus, the true Israel, passes through the waters of baptism and is declared God's Son — recapitulating and fulfilling Israel's history.
He inaugurates His public ministry. The baptism is the transition from thirty years of hiddenness in Nazareth to three years of public ministry. It is the formal beginning of the mission.
The Trinitarian Moment
The baptism of Jesus is one of the clearest Trinitarian moments in the entire Bible:
"And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.' " (Matthew 3:16-17).
The Son is baptised in the water. The Spirit descends visibly as a dove. The Father speaks audibly from heaven. Three persons, one moment, the mission of salvation formally begun.
The Father's words echo two Old Testament texts: Psalm 2:7 ("You are my Son") — the royal Davidic King; and Isaiah 42:1 ("my servant... in whom my soul delights") — the suffering Servant. Jesus is both: the King who saves through suffering.