Matthew 3:13–17 (NASB95): “¹³ Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

As others have pointed out, Matthew chapter 2 ends with Joseph bringing his family from Egypt back to Nazareth to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah “would be called a Nazarene.” The Apostle immediately skips to the ministry of John the Baptizer preaching and baptizing at the Jordan. Scripture tells us that “⁵ Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” (Matthew 3:5-6)

The first question that leaps to mind is “Why did Jesus come to John to be baptized?” John states in Matthew 3:11 (NASB95) “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Although John understands that Jesus is mightier than he, Jesus comes to John to be baptized, why? Additionally, we learn from the same verse that the baptism of John was a baptism of repentance from sin.  John told the Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming to be baptized, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance”. Jesus did not need to be baptized with water for repentance. He did not need to repent because His whole life, from conception and birth to His death on the cross was without sin. Jesus was conceived without sin. In Luke, chapter one, Mary is told by the angel Gabriel that even though she was a virgin she would conceive a child. Mary questions “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” “³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35). As the Holy Child who was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary”, Jesus never had a sinful thought. He never did a sinful deed. He never said a sinful word. Scripture tells us that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus was born without sin, and throughout His entire life, Jesus was without sin. Since the baptism of John was a baptism of repentance from sin, why did Jesus need to be baptized by John?

The second question is “Why did Jesus wait until He was 30 years old?” Luke 3:23 (NASB95) tells us “When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli”. It is apparent when reading Scripture that none of the four evangelists tell us much about the early years of Jesus. Matthew records the genealogy of Jesus; the family’s escape from Herod; and their return from Egypt. He then skips to the baptism of Jesus by John. Mark immediately begins his gospel with the ministry of John the Baptizer and his baptism of Jesus. Luke records the events surrounding the announcement of the birth of Jesus and relates an event that occurred when Jesus was 12 years old. In chapter three, Luke skips years ahead and relates the ministry of John the Baptizer and his baptism of Jesus.

The third question is “Why did John allow himself to baptize Jesus even though he knew he needed to be baptized by Jesus?” When Jesus told John “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he permitted Him.” Since Jesus was perfectly righteous as the sinless God-Man and did not need a baptism of repentance, what did He mean that He and John needed to fulfill all righteousness?

A relevant passage is John 3:23–26 (NASB95). In that Scripture, we read “²³ John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— ²⁴ for John had not yet been thrown into prison. ²⁵ Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.”

It is important to note in this passage that John was baptizing and there arose a discussion between the disciples of John and a Jew about “purification” (verse 25). It is clear from this passage that they were discussing baptism as a ritual dealing with purification regarding repentance from sin. Again, Jesus did not need purification from sin. He was perfectly sinless. How does the baptism of Jesus fulfill all righteousness and how does it relate to purification?

The key to understanding this is to realize that Jesus was beginning His ministry “as a priest.”

As Jay E. Adams has succinctly pointed out in The Meaning and Mode of Baptism, “Before any man could become a priest, three things were required: first, he must be 30 years old (Num. 4:3, 47). (This is why Christ’s age at His baptism is given as 30 years in Luke 3:23.); second, he must be called of God as was Aaron, the first high priest (Ex. 28:1). (Christ was thus called, Heb. 5:4-10); and thirdly, he must be sprinkled with water (Num. 8:6-7) by one already a priest (John was a priest, inheriting the office from his father, Ex. 29:9; Num. 25:13; Lk. 1:5, 13). Christ knew His call, waited until He was 30 years old and then came to John “to fulfill allrighteousness,” that is, to meet the last demand of the Old Testament Law for a priest before He began His public ministry.”

The priests were baptized by sprinkling. Numbers 8:6–7 (NASB95) “⁶ “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. ⁷ “Thus you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be clean.” This passage also indicates that Jesus was not baptized by immersion as many in the Baptistic persuasion believe. John, acting as an Old Testament priest, would have “sprinkled purifying water” on Jesus to authorize His ministry.

One other step in the ordination of a priest was to anoint them with holy oil. By the time of Jesus, the recipe for consecrated oil was apparently no longer known. Instead, Jesus was baptized not only by John but also by the Holy Spirit coming down as a dove and lighting on Him (Matthew 3:16).