“My Son . . . and My People”

Matthew 3:13-15

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone (Vol. 1)

V. 15, “This is how it’s got to be right now,” said Jesus, “This is the right way for us to complete God’s whole saving plan.”

Jesus’ reply tells us something vital about the whole gospel story that is going to unfold before our surprised gaze. Yes, he is coming to fulfill God’s plan, the promises which God made ages ago and has never forgotten. Yes, these are promises which will blow God’s wind, God’s spirit, through the world, which will bring the fire of God’s just judgment on evil wherever it occurs, and which will rescue God’s penitent people once and for all from every kind of exile to which they have been driven. But if he, Jesus, is to do all this, this is how he must do it: by humbly identifying himself with God’s people, by taking their place, sharing their penitence, living their life and ultimately dying their death (21-2).