Jesus' baptism

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by You, and do You come to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” Matthew 3:13-15
The obvious question that arisees when we read of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist is, why was Jesus baptised? John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance (Matt. 3:11, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Acts 19:4). Jesus had no sin to repent of. John recognised this, and tried to deter Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by You’. He knew that Jesus was the Messiah, bringing salvation from God as spoken by the prophets. Yet Jesus, in the role of a servant, submits Himself to John’s baptism.
He did this, saying rather cryptically, ‘It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ There are three reasons this refers to. Firstly, He validates John’s ministry as the forerunner of the Messiah (Isa. 40:3, Matt. 3:3). Baptism was a fairly common occurrence in Biblical times; it was a symbol of identifying oneself with what the baptiser stood for. Thus Jesus shows His approval of John’s ministry and his message, by submitting Himself to being baptised by him. Secondly, it represented an anointing on Himself as the Messiah. It was after Jesus’ baptism that His ministry properly began. Thirdly, Jesus sets an example for us to follow. Water baptism, for Christians, symbolises the death of the old man and the rising again in the new life of Christ. “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:4).