<p>3:12 <i>And there came also tax collectors to be baptized; and they said to him: Teacher, what must we do?</i>- There is a parallel between desiring baptism and realizing that they must <i>do</i> something concretely in their lives. The baptism process brings us into the realm of God's gracious forgiveness and redemption, and into living contact with the real Christ. There is no way we can be passive to this and do nothing about it. Note that Matthew himself was a publican and also records this- this is an example of the Gospel records being a transcript of the message standardly taught by e.g. Matthew.</p>