To Fulfill All Righteousness

 I have met some people who are very detail oriented. They pay attention to every detail of what they need to do, and they make sure they do it exactly right. Then, there are many other people who just want to do things well enough to get by. They are not so concerned about the quality of what they do. I don't believe that is a very good philosophy of life, especially when it comes to doing what God wants us to do.

When Jesus started His earthly ministry, He went to his cousin, John, the Baptist, at the Jordan River to be baptized by him. John was surprised and asked to be baptized by Jesus. (Matthew 3:15) But Jesus answered by saying, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness." Then, John allowed Jesus to be baptized. I believe all of us should be like Jesus and desire to fulfill all righteousness, not just part of it.

Scholars have debated what Jesus meant by fulfilling all righteousness. It is not totally clear, but we know He wanted to do everything that was right. Since He had become a man, and He was going to call on people to be baptized, it was only right for Him to be baptized, even though He never sinned. Also, He was identifying with all of us as humans, showing us that He had truly become a man, while still being God. Those two reasons might be why He was fulfilling all righteousness, or there may be some other reason, too.

However, the main thing I want to focus on here is that Jesus's purpose in His earthly life was to fulfill all righteousness. He was being completely obedient to the Father in everything He did. The Father wanted Him to be baptized so Jesus gladly followed that desire. We should do the same thing. We should pray for God to show us the things He has for us to do in our lives and fulfill them completely and gladly. Then, we will be able to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 4-8.