Doug Wilson retells the story

The Lord Jesus Just one more of the books written about this Man which will one day fill the earth. I was particularly moved by this bit:

From the beginning, the ministry of Jesus consisted of identification with sinners. This is why the Incarnation occurred in the first place, and His formal ministry began with Him receiving the baptism of John—which was, you recall, a baptism of repentance. So Jesus began His public ministry by repenting, a fact that brought John the Baptist into a state of no small consternation. As the perfect one, Jesus was the only one who could repent perfectly. Of course, this also meant that He did not need to repent, but Jesus lived His life as a second Adam—one whose obedience or disobedience was to be reckoned to His people. And in this repentance, He was Israel, repenting on our behalf. So He began His public ministry by repenting in the Jordan River. Have you ever felt that your repentance was completely inadequate? That is why Jesus repented for you. He began His ministry of representing you by coming to John and requesting baptism. He ended this ministry of identification with sinners in His death and resurrection. The baptism of Jesus and the death and resurrection of Jesus are the two bookends of His ministry that contain the story of your salvation, as well as the reality of it.