[52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52
Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.
And as he was praying, heaven was opened
22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”]

I see this verse as a declaration of his identity and his ministry.
Jesus grew not only in wisdom but also in stature, I see this in the way my own grandson’s are growing up.
They change from the little boy look to the ‘young man look’ and desire to be taller than grandma.
Jesus grew up too and after he was baptized by John he went off to be alone.
[4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.”
10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.]

Jesus was put through a tremendous tempting time that was not much different than what we go through sometimes. The enemy wanted to remove his identity and test it to the fullest.
If you are … then do this. Jesus knew how to rebuke that and it was through the written scriptures.
This is the lesson for us, to memorize scripture so that in a time of testing we will understand and know, this is NOT from God this is from someone wanting to harm us.
His IDENTITY was established. “YOU are my son whom I love and who I am well pleased with.”
What a beautiful promise for us.
Can you even imagine the honor for John to baptize his own cousin and also his ‘Savior’?
Can you even imagine the people in the crowd watching the dove and then to hear the voice?
This is such a powerful point in the story as his identity is established in public now.
Which is the beginning of the process of the religious leaders attack against him as we head into the Easter story.