There is joy and blessedness in being permitted to witness in an age of doubt and unbelief to that precious faith committed unto us. 
The Rt Rev'd H.B. Whipple, Founder of The Church of the Good Shepherd, Maitland, Florida, 1881

Dearly Beloved in Christ,
He was proclaimed the Son of God, the Beloved, by the voice of the Father and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He was proclaimed the "chosen one" in whom God's soul delights through the Prophet Isaiah.  He was proclaimed the Christos, the Messiah, the anointed one, and Lord of all by Peter.  And yet he came to the River Jordan to be baptized by John in order to "fulfill all righteousness." 

The sinless man-God had no need of repentance, had no need of being cleansed in the waters of baptism, but he had come to enter fully into the creation he had created.  He came not to "lord it" over us but to identify with us, to stand with us.  So in the baptismal waters of the Jordan, at the beginning of his earthly ministry, he knit himself inextricably to us so that his righteousness would be ours who believe in him.

In His Peace, Grace, and Love,
Rev'd Sarah+