<p>3:15&nbsp;<em>But Jesus answering said to him-&nbsp;</em>The sensitivity of the Lord is reflected in how He frequently sensed and foresaw human behaviour and objections / response to His teaching and actions. You can read the Gospels and search for examples. Here&rsquo;s a classic one: &ldquo;But John would have hindered [Jesus]&hellip; but Jesus answering said&hellip;&rdquo; (Mt. 3:14 RV). Jesus &lsquo;answered&rsquo; John&rsquo;s objection even before John had properly expressed it (see another example of this in Lk. 22:70).</p>
<p><em>Permit it now, for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he permitted him</em>- Maybe the Lord Jesus felt that this act of total identification with sinners in their need was necessary for Him to achieve perfect / total righteousness. And He needed John's assistance in this- &quot;it becomes&nbsp;<em>us</em>&quot;.&nbsp; He was baptized in order to be absolutely perfect, and that perfection involved the act of identification with sinners in order to totally identify with them. Perfection will never be achieved by holding aloof from sinners, but rather by identification with them that they might be saved. The reason for Jesus being baptized was surely that He wanted to identify with sinful man, taking His place in the line of mixed up folk waiting on the banks of the Jordan.&nbsp;</p>