words. In humility, Christ came to John after the pattern of all the other sinners and penitents, identifying Himself with the race of men He had come to save. It is to be noted, however, that unlike those men, He did not come “confessing out [His] sins” (see v. 5), for He had none to confess. It is simply recorded that, like the others, He too was baptized in the Jordan by John. Why then was He baptized? This is the big question which many have asked, and which is answered by the Church in her hymns