NOTES for Mat 3:1-17
When we read about the bewilderment and indignation of John the Baptist, who did not want to let Jesus be baptized in the Jordan, it becomes clear to us: John recognized Him. Participation in this baptism was supposed to testify that a person confesses his sinfulness to God, admits that he is not right; and now in the river stands the One who is right before God.
Yet Jesus still receives baptism, which means that God has another righteousness besides rightness before Himself. This is the righteousness of love, which is "fulfilled" when the righteous One decides to share life with the unrighteous, the sinless One with sinners. This may be incomprehensible and unpleasant; it may contradict our ideas about justice, but Christ enters the water together with everyone, and it turns out that the Father's beloved Son is one of us.