Fitting to Fulfill All Righteousness?

“Then Jesus came from Galilee upon the Jordan to John, in order to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you! And you come to me?’ But in response, Jesus said to him, ‘Let it happen now, for so it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he let it happen. And when Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up, and look! The sky was opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And look! A voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:10–17).

I remember hearing this story as a child in Sunday School. It always confused me. If Jesus had never sinned, why did he need to be baptized? I asked the question, and the Sunday School teacher looked at me, puzzled. After a pause, she answered “As an example for us.” Even as a child, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

According to Jesus himself in the book of Matthew, his baptism was “for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Both of these terms are sprinkled throughout Matthew’s Gospel — he uses the words δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosyne, righteousness) or δίκαιος (dikaios, righteous) 15 times while πληρόω (plerao, to fulfill) he uses 16 times. Both ideas form one of Matthew’s major themes.

Righteousness in Matthew is different from righteousness in Paul’s letters. Matthew’s use of this language reflects more closely that of the Old Testament. This means righteousness in the book of Matthew is not so much about an internal quality as it is about obeying God. When it came to the Pharisees in Matthew, for instance, Jesus called them hypocrites because they practiced their own righteousness outwardly, when inwardly they were filled with lawlessness. They were only concerned with appearances, not with actually obeying God’s law.

So when Jesus uses this word in 3:15, he is essentially saying that his baptism would fulfill the will of God. Jesus had to be baptized in order to obey his father.

Fulfillment is another important theme in the book of Matthew. Time and time again, the Evangelist seeks to show how Jesus not only fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, but he also fulfilled every word written in the law. So in what way does Jesus’ baptism fulfill all righteousness?

This fulfillment has been understood in many different ways. Some have seen this as an allusion to the Suffering Servant described in Isaiah 53. By submitting himself to baptism, Jesus was fulfilling his role in identifying with sinful Israel. It’s not that he needed to be baptized for his own sins, because he had none. But perhaps he had to be baptized in order to embody Israel and take on their sins, which was the role of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah.

Others understand Jesus’ baptism as an inauguration of his kingship. When Jesus acknowledges that he is “fulfilling all righteousness,” he is not only taking up his role as a servant but also as a king. Jesus’ baptism, then, was his anointing; he was first anointed by his prophetic predecessor with water in Matthew 3:15, and then he was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit in 3:16 and 17.

In his commentary on Matthew, Ben Witherington III connects this idea with the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon 1:1–5, which brought righteousness and wisdom together, and was directly addressed to the king:

“Love uprightness you who are rulers on earth, be properly disposed towards the Lord and seek him in simplicity of heart; for he will be found by those who do not put him to the test, revealing himself to those who do not mistrust him. Perverse thoughts, however, separate people from God, and power, when put to the test, confounds the stupid. Wisdom will never enter the soul of a wrong-doer, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin; for the holy spirit of instruction flees deceitfulness, recoils from unintelligent thoughts, is thwarted by the onset of vice” (Wisdom 1:1–5, NJB).

So through his baptism, Jesus was (1) the Isaian embodiment of Israel, (2) the Davidic embodiment of the king, and (3) the Solomonic embodiment of wisdom. But what was John the Baptist’s role in the baptism? After all, Jesus tells him that it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Another important theme in Matthew in mission. When John anoints Jesus, so to speak, he is fulfilling all righteousness by fulfilling God’s will in the mission to which God has called him: to prepare the way. When Jesus submits himself to baptism, he is also fulfilling God’s will in the messianic mission to which God has called him. This one event signifies the fulfillment and the conclusion of John’s mission, while at the same time signifying the fulfillment and beginning of Jesus’ mission.

Righteousness served both John the Baptist and Jesus as a central theme of their teaching. They both call for godly righteousness — submission to the will of God — over human righteousness. In this scene, the two men and the two missions intertwine. As their missions and their messages come together in submission to God, all righteousness is fulfilled.