Matthew 3:13-17 “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? 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” What a great incident is the baptism of our Lord! In a single event, He prophesied His own burial and resurrection, proved His eternal Sonship to God the Father, pictured the Holy Trinity, and preached the correct mode of baptism.
Jesus was baptized for a somewhat different reason from that which motivates our own baptism today. We are baptized today as a testimony that we have trusted in the salvatory work of Christ in His burial and resurrection. But Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, that is, to do that which was right. It was right for Him to prophecy His own burial and resurrection, which are very necessary parts of the saving gospel (see I Corinthians 15:1-4).
He did not become the Son of God at His baptism, as is sometimes taught. There never was a time in eternity past when He was not the Son of God. He is called “the Son,” in the Old Testament (Psalm 2:12), and the writer of the Book of Hebrews says that Jesus was the Son already when He was begotten at Bethlehem (Hebrews 1:5). Furthermore, He was already the Son before God sent Him into the world in the stories which Jesus told (Matthew 21:37). Jesus was DECLARED to be God’s Son at His baptism.
The Trinity is in focus at Jesus’ baptism. The Trinity is not three different manifestations of one person. Rather, it is three different persons, all of whom are God; and yet, all three persons are one God. This is a mystery, but it is a fact because it is taught in God’s Word. All three Persons are in the picture at Jesus’ baptism.
When Jesus was baptized, He is said to have “come up out of the water” (Mark1:10), not up out of the river. This would indicate that He was buried in the water and came up out of it. This, of course, is consistent with the meaning of the word baptism itself.