Summary
Fulfilled: The Baptism of Jesus and the Beginning of His Saving Work
The first words of Jesus recorded in Matthew's Gospel come at the Jordan River, when John the Baptist tries to wave Him off: "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus answers, "Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness" Matthew 3:15. John knew his place. He was the forerunner, not the Christ, and to baptize the sinless Son of God seemed unfitting. Jesus' answer reframes the whole moment: this baptism is not about John's worthiness, and it is not about Jesus needing what John offers. It is about the mission of the Son.
Jesus did not come to the Jordan because He needed forgiveness—He is fully God and fully man, without sin. Nor did He come merely to provide an example for His followers to imitate. To read His baptism either way diminishes both His mission and our own baptism. Instead, His descent into the water marks the beginning of His earthly ministry: the moment He publicly steps into the office of the Christ who will fulfill all righteousness on behalf of sinners.
At the Jordan, the whole Holy Trinity is revealed. The Son rises from the water; the Spirit descends upon Him as a dove; the Father's voice declares, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" Matthew 3:16-17. The season of Epiphany is bookmarked by this scene and the Transfiguration, where the Father speaks the same words and adds, "Listen to him" Matthew 17:5. What begins at the Jordan ends at Calvary. There the Father's voice falls silent, and the Son cries out alone: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46. To "fulfill all righteousness" meant taking the road from the Jordan to Jerusalem, to the cross, to death, and to resurrection on the third day. This is why Peter's later attempt to turn Jesus away from Jerusalem received the sharp rebuke, "Get behind me, Satan" Matthew 16:23—the same kind of well-meaning prevention John had offered at the river.
Because Christ has fulfilled all righteousness, the risen Lord can send His disciples out with the command, "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Matthew 28:19. Christian baptism is therefore not a symbol or a ceremonial step we perform to keep our faith life in proper order. It is the gift of the Triune God, who places His own name on us and joins us to the finished work of His Son.
Paul makes this concrete: "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death... so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" Romans 6:3-4. In the waters of baptism, the old Adam and old Eve are put to death, and a new creature is raised. The life we now live is not our own; "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" Galatians 2:20.
This is the gift Christ delivers from His own baptism to ours: in the waters we are washed with His full righteousness, with the complete forgiveness of sins, and with salvation itself. The demand of holy perfection has already been met for us. When the Father looks upon the baptized, He sees the righteousness of His beloved Son—and He sees that all has been fulfilled.
Video citations
- "Fulfilled" 1-11-26 — Would you please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew the third chapter? If you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, this can be found on page 3 in the New Testament. We're in the Gospel of…