Commentaries:
Evidently, John the Baptist understood what Jesus meant. He understood that what Jesus meant was that the "all righteousness" He was talking about was what God required. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words comments here, "To fulfill all righteousness clearly means to do what God deems right and proper. To do what fulfills or conforms to God's revealed will."
So, Jesus is telling John the Baptist that God required Him—it was God's will for Him—to undergo baptism because it is right and proper for a person, even the Creator God, our High Priest and Head of the church, to make a public declaration of His decision to come under the New Covenant. God wanted this done, not that it would make Jesus any holier. That could not happen. But the Father had the Son do this as a public example. It was right and proper for Jesus Christ to show the rest of the world, and more specifically, everyone who would come into the Body as time progressed, that this formal, sacred ritual was the proper way to do things. It was right and fitting that each person undergo water baptism just like the Head of the church did. That is the way.
Vine shows here that in Matthew, righteousness always leans toward the practice of goodness, what is right and proper in godly conduct and behaviors. It is not a spiritual state or condition. Many people today, when asked, "Are you religious?" quickly respond, "Oh, no, no! I would never! The churches are terrible, and they require this and that. But I'm spiritual." Well, Jesus says to that attitude, "No. You can be spiritual, but you had better be religious, too." Religion implies "duties one must perform," and baptism is one of the duties of Christianity that must be performed. It is a responsibility of everyone coming to Christ to go through baptism, just as repentance is, just as belief is.
We can see from this example that, in Matthew, righteousness is not a spiritual state or condition of the person's heart or mind. Not in Matthew. In this gospel, it always deals with doing something practical and physical, that is, some sort of obedience and proper conduct.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
Though He had never sinned, Jesus went through the rite of baptism "to fulfill all righteousness." He did everything a truly righteous man should do, so we could learn from Him. As our perfect example in all things (see I John 2:6; I Peter 2:21), He came to John to be baptized to show us the steps we must take to reach the same destination He did—the Kingdom of God.
Staff
Basic Doctrines: Water Baptism
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 3:14:
John 3:5
