God came to fulfill all righteousness

1. What was the purpose of the baptism that John the Baptizer was administering before the public ministry of Jesus began? (See Mark 1:4.)

John had been given a divine assignment to preach "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4). The baptism that John the Baptizer was administering was essentially no different than the Christian baptism that Jesus commanded his New Testament apostles and church to administer in Matthew 28:19,20. Baptism is a call to Christian repentance and the application of God's promise of forgiveness in Jesus.

2. How did John the Baptizer speak to those who came to the Jordan River with a smug and self-righteous attitude? (See Matthew 3:7-10.)

John called on the Pharisees and Sadducees to repent of their sins in the harshest of terms, referring to them as a bunch of snakes. He wanted them to realize that they could not stand before God with their self-righteous attitudes. They needed to recognize their deep need for a Savior from sin and that in Jesus they had such a Savior.

3. True or false: Jesus was no sinner. (See Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 1:29.)

True, Jesus had no personal sin (Hebrews 4:15), but the Scriptures also make it abundantly clear that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Lord laid on Jesus "the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). Already from the beginning of his life and public ministry, Jesus was "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). In that respect, it is accurate to assert that Jesus came to baptism as the greatest of all sinners.

4. If Jesus was without personal sin and in no need of repentance, why did he come to be baptized? (See Matthew 3:15.)