Epiphany #9 of 14: baptism #5 of 5.

Then Jesus was tempted.

(Matthew 4:1)

Immediately after baptism, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Mt 4:1). The tempter tempts: “Are you sure you are the Son of God?” And, if you are, show us some tricks, like “turning stones into bread.” Jesus is tempted to deny his baptism—to be something he is not, and to do something contrary to his calling.

That’s the nature of temptation. Adam and Eve were tempted to become something they were not; so too, the devil tempts Jesus to become something he is not. The first man falls into temptation. Christ, the Son of Man, resists the tempters temptation. Jesus will remain faithful to his baptism—faithful to who he is, and faithful to what he is called to do. Jesus will remain true to himself and true to his destiny—a destiny that brings about a “new humanity” (Eph 2:15).

That’s how our baptism works. Our old humanity, marked by sin and death, goes under; and, something new comes up out of the water—a new humanity. That’s always our temptation: did our baptism really mean anything? Are we really new? That’s why, from time to time, we need to remember how we came up out of the waters of baptism “so that we might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4).