I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Matthew 3:11-14

John was known as the “Baptizer” for a reason, as we talked about previously, John the Baptist came to “Prepare The Way of The Lord” the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. However as John baptized people with water, He spoke about another baptism that could only happen by The Lord, that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John said “He (Christ) shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit” 

Jesus then appeared and John declared “Behold The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world “ (John 1:29) John the Baptist was affirming Jesus is The Christ, as Isaiah prophesied John is the Messenger of the Messiah. However what happens next is unexpected, Jesus asks John to baptize him also! At first John refused to baptize Jesus saying “ I need you to baptize me” , John understood that Jesus was the sinless Son of God, how can a sinner baptize The Lord?

So the question was Why did Jesus have John baptize him? Well there are several reason probably why this happened. First, we must remember Jesus was fully God and fully Human (Philippians 2), Jesus came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:7) Jesus was performing all the requirements of fulfilling the law and righteousness. Secondly , John the Baptist was from the Levitical line of Aaron, by blood line John fulfilled the requirements of the High Priest. Part of the duties of the High Priest , were to offer the sacrifices to God, as we know Jesus was the last and perfect sacrifice to God for the sin of the world.

And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:15-17

As Jesus said “Let it be done to fulfill all righteousness” Christ came to Earth to save humanity because humanity was incapable of saving themselves. Now another reason probably why this event happened was to affirm the Triune nature of God.

When Jesus was lifted out of the water the Heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, then God the Father affirmed “Jesus is my beloved Son” We see the Father, Son , and Holy Spirit all together working in unity. Also during this baptism John the Baptist affirmed the Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God

The Baptism of Christ one of the mysterious events of the Bible but also one of the most beautiful moments when we see the  blessed Trinity coming together for the salvation of the world, Amen!