NOTES for Mat 3:1-17
When we read of John the Baptist's bewilderment and indignation as he tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized in the Jordan, one thing becomes clear to us: John recognized Him. Participation in this baptism was supposed to show that a person confessed his sinfulness to God, acknowledged that he was in the wrong; yet now the One who is righteous before God enters the river. Jesus nevertheless accepts baptism, which means that in God's eyes there is another kind of righteousness beyond simply being right before Him. It is the righteousness of love, which is “fulfilled” when the one who is right decides to share the life of those who are wrong, the sinless One the life of sinners. This may be incomprehensible and unpleasant; it may contradict our ideas of justice. Yet Christ enters the water with everyone else, and it turns out that the Father's beloved Son is one of us.