Matthew 3:15  Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

John was confused.  Why did his soon-to-be-famous cousin feel the need to be baptized?  John had a special connection with Jesus as far back as he could remember, even getting excited to learn that Jesus was in the womb next to him.  At some point he learned that it was his mission to announce the coming of the perfect Lamb of God.

John prepared the people by performing a type of Mikvah, a Jewish ritual of symbolically cleansing from sin.  They were to cast off (or repent of) the unclean things that soiled them, so that they would be ready to meet God’s one and only son, their own King of Kings.  Now he was here, standing before John, asking to be baptized.

Even though John was a confirmed Nazarite (no drinking, no haircuts, etc), he failed to see why Jesus shouldn’t be baptizing him, not the other way round. The scholars tell us that Jesus planned the event in order to kick off his ministry (dove comes down, God speaking).  They also say that this was a way for Jesus to identify with the human condition, feeling the burden of sin, yet sinless in himself.

Church leaders tell us that Jesus’ baptism was set as an example for us, that we might follow in the practice, as we do with Communion, or with healing (for our spirit-filled brethren).  From the beginning the church would struggle over reasons and modes, even splintering into cells formed on individual interpretation of scripture.

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