Well, in Jesus’ case, heaven was about to open above the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit was about to leave heaven and come down to get up close and personal with Jesus. And before entering the Holy of Holies, the high priest would always wash his hands as part of a ceremonial cleansing. According to Old Testament law, the Jewish high priest was the only man authorized by God to enter the Holy of Holies, the most sacred room in the temple where God’s Spirit dwelled. Possibility #3: Jesus was baptized in order to ceremonially cleanse himself before being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Since John would be handing the ministry baton over to Jesus when Jesus was ready to begin his ministry, what better place to do that than in the Jordan River where John - for quite some time - had been helping people turn from their sin and prepare themselves for Jesus’ coming? This possibility makes sense, too. Possibility #2: Jesus was baptized in order to mark the official start of his ministry. Jesus wanted to identify with this turning. And Jesus knew…that he too must identify himself with this movement towards God” John’s baptism was part of the people’s turning from sin and turning toward God. Throughout the whole country there was an unprecedented movement towards God. According to the theologian Albert Barnes, “When John emerged, the people flocked to hear him and to be baptized. Possibility #1: Jesus was baptized in order to identify with those he came to save. But the answer “to fulfill all righteousness” doesn’t really clear things up for us, does it? What did Jesus mean? Well, there are at least three possibilities. Here’s how Jesus responded to John’s protest: “Let it be so now it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (v.
If John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, what sin did Jesus commit that required his repentance? There wasn’t one! He was perfect! He had never sinned! Between John and Jesus, if one of them needed to be baptized, certainly that someone was John. So John said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” John makes an excellent point. He knew Jesus was the Messiah, the savior of the world. It’s a good question: Why did Jesus Christ need to be baptized? That’s basically the question that came out of John the Baptist’s mouth when Jesus came forward to be baptized in the Jordan River. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” - Matthew 3:14