Matthew 3:14-16

Suffer it to be so

Why one who needed no repentance should insist upon receiving a rite which signified confession (Matthew 3:6) and repentance (Matthew 3:11) is nowhere directly explained. It may be suggested:

• (1) That Jesus was now to receive His anointing with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16) unto His threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King. In the Levitical order Exodus 29:4-7 the high priest was first washed, then anointed. While Christ's priestly work did not begin till He "offered Himself without spot to God" Hebrews 9:14 and His full manifestation as the King- Priest after the order of Melchizedek awaits the kingdom (See Scofield "Genesis 14:18") yet He was then anointed, once for all.
• (2) But John's baptism was the voice of God to Israel, and the believing remnant responded (Matthew 3:5). It was an act of righteousness on the part of Him who had become, as to the flesh, an Israelite, to take His place with this believing remnant.

righteousness(See Scofield "1 John 3:7"). Jesus

For the first time the Trinity, foreshadowed in many ways in the O.T., is fully manifested. The Spirit descends upon the Son, and at the same moment the Father's voice is heard from heaven.