To Fulfill All Righteousness

In reading the Gospels I cannot help but notice how consumed Jesus was with accomplishing God's will. It seems that every decision, every action, every word was carefully chosen so as to advance the accomplishment of God's will. What an example to me of how I am to live my life today. I should be, as He was, a man of prayer and a man who is wholly committed to God. A man where every decision, action, thought, word and deed is carefully evaluated to determine whether it is of God or of me.

In Matthew 3, we read the account of John the Baptist preaching the coming King and also of how Jesus was baptized by John. By human reasoning, the baptism of Jesus by John would seem to not make sense. Afterall, John was right when he said in v14 that "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" John recognized the authority of Jesus and was subservient to it. But Jesus, having all authority did not exercise it but rather submitted himself to God's will.

The words of Jesus in v15 "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." reveals exactly what was important to Jesus. Jesus did everything according to God's instructions and in order to not provide material for arguments from the religious leaders, he too had to be baptized.

The last bit of v15 is important to me. "Then John consented." Jesus wanted to do things God's way and John submitted himself to the authority and example of Jesus. Fully aware of his own shortcomings, John felt unworthy to baptize Jesus but in order to fulfill the righteousness set down by God, he submitted.

I too am keenly aware of my own sinfulness. I too feel unworthy to call myself a follower of Christ. I look in the Bible and see Jesus and like John, I must choose to submit myself to the will of God and I must commit myself to fulfill all righteousness.

Peace,
Carl