Matthew 3:15

The reasoning with which Jesus replies to John's scruples is characteristic. His answer is gentle, respectful, dignified, simple, yet deep. Ἄφες ἄρτι deferential, half-yielding, yet strong in its very gentleness. Does ἄρτι imply a tacit acceptance of the high position assigned to Him by John (Weiss-Meyer)? We may read that into it, but I doubt if the suggestion does justice to the feeling of Jesus. οὕτω γὰρ πρέπον : a mild word when a stronger might have been used, because it refers to John as well as Jesus: fitting, becoming, congruous; vide Hebrews 2:10, where the same word is used in reference to the relation of God to Christ's sufferings. “It became Him.” πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην : this means more than meets the ear, more than could be explained to a man like John. The Baptist had a passion for righteousness, yet his conception of righteousness was narrow, severe, legal. Their ideas of righteousness separated the two men by a wide gulf which is covered over by this general, almost evasive, phrase: all righteousness or every form of it. The special form meant is not the mere compliance with the ordinance of baptism as administered by an accredited servant of God, but something far deeper, which the new era will unfold. John did not understand that love is the fulfilling of the law. But he saw that under the mild words of Jesus a very earnest purpose was hid. So at length he yielded τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτόν.