the well-pleasing Son

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Matthew 3:15

When Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized, John first prevented it claiming it was he who needed to submit to baptism by Jesus. But Jesus, the greater authority, explained to John, the lesser authority, just why he needed to do so. Jesus and John would “fulfill all righteousness” by Jesus’ baptism. There was something big going on. It wasn’t that Jesus was out of place to be baptized by John, rather it was that both of them would obey an even greater authority, God the Father.

The was immediately known after Jesus was baptized. The Spirit of God rested on Jesus like a dove. The voice of the Father from heaven proclaimed Jesus as “my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mathew 3:17). All righteousness was fulfilled as Jesus began His public ministry, confirmed by John the Baptist, by the Holy Spirit’s presence, and by the Father Himself.

Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. He did every righteous act revealed by God and demanded by the Law. His baptism showed the Father’s approval from the very beginning. This was going to continue all through His ministry in His teaching, healings, and by His miracles. It would culminate in His crucifixion to die for our sins to satisfy God, defeating death and sin by His obedient victory over sin’s curses forever! Jesus fulfilled all righteousness so that all who trust now in Him receive His righteousness by faith and come to the Father by the well-pleasing Son.