There is only one story told about Jesus in His youth, and it is not in the book of Matthew. Even though there is nothing written, I like to think of this young child growing up, playing in the sawdust and learning the carpentry trade in His father's workshop. Matthew jumps from their return from Egypt to the appearance of John the Baptist and Jesus's encounter with him. I'm basically writing a biography of John the Baptist because he was born to be a forerunner for the appearance of Christ, a voice crying in the wilderness, getting the people spiritually prepared to recognize and accept the Messiah.
Long ago, in the hill country of Judaea, lived an elderly and childless couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth. They yearned for a child, but it seemed to them that God was not listening. Elizabeth was way beyond her childbearing years when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zacharias in the Temple to let him know that God had heard their prayer. Elizabeth was going to have a son and would name him John.
Why Zacharias and Elizabeth? Zacharias was working in the Temple when the angel appeared to him. He was a descendant of Aaron thru King David and a priest from the tribe of Abijah. Zacharias was astonished at the news that Gabriel gave him and questioned him with a "Why me? I am old and my wife is beyond her childbearing years?" I can imagine his saying that, but because he voiced his astonishment, he was mute until John was born. Can you feel what Zacharias felt when he learned of having a son at his age and not be able to tell anyone about it?
Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron and thus, of David. Luke 1:6 says, "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." (KJV) This fulfills the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the house of David.
Why is John so important? He was sent to spiritually prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah so they would accept Him when He came to them. He was filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in his mother's womb. John's venue as a Nazirite was in the wilderness of Judaea. His clothing was made from itchy, coarse camel hair, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He and Jesus were cousins with John being about 6 months older than Jesus.
John started preaching about the coming of the Messiah about 26 or 27 A.D. Historically, this date puts his ministry near the Messianic period. The people weren't prepared for this age so John had to get them to prepare spiritually for the coming of Christ. Sadly, the people weren't looking for a spiritual leader but a political and military King who would end the oppression of the Jews by other nations who worshipped idols.
Instead of introducing to them a political leader, he preached about a Messiah who would bring salvation to any who would repent of their sins, invite Him into their hearts and exemplify a Godly life. Most of the Jews of that time believed they would go to heaven when they died because they were of the lineage of Abraham. John preached vehemently against this belief and angered the Jews who believed it. He told them that they had to accept Jesus into their hearts and turn from their sin. His was not a popular message.
After accepting Christ, John preached that they must be completely immersed in water to signify a public confession of faith by being cleansed of their sins. Baptism by water was not a new concept to the Jews; however, John's idea of baptism was different from the Jewish connotation of baptism. Levitical Law (Lev. 11-15) required cleansing after eating unclean food (11), purification after childbirth (12), priestly procedures for diagnosing leprosy (13), priestly methods for cleansing the leper as well as the house and everything he/she touched (14), and cleansing after touching any running sores on men or a woman's issue of blood (15).
An Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25-26 says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (25) A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh" (26) [KJV]
The Levitical cleansing restored the person to their previous state while John preached that baptism would prepare them for a new type of life, one grounded in the Messiah. Huge crowds of believers flocked to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Jesus came in one of the crowds. John insisted that he was unworthy to baptize Jesus, that Jesus should baptize him. "And Jesus answering said unto him, "Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffereth Him." (Matt. 3:15) When Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove "And lo a voice from heaven, saying This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
John the Baptist understood that his ministry would be short for the Messiah was here and would take over the delivery of the message of salvation. Only a few of John's disciples stayed with him while the rest followed Jesus. We don't know what John continued to teach his disciples except that he taught them how to fast and pray. I think he would continue to teach about the Messiah until his death so his followers would accept the true Messiah.
The disciples of John the Baptist were loyal to him, taking care of his needs while he was in prison, lovingly caring for his body after his brutal murder and even twenty years later, Apollos from Ephesus, was still a follower of John.
We don't know for sure when John was in prison, but it was before Jesus began His ministry. After a short time in prison, John sent two of his followers to Jesus to ask Him if He was, in fact, the Messiah. What an odd question as that had been the entire purpose of John's ministry. He may have done it to reassure his own disciples, or he may have had some doubts of his own. Jews everywhere expected a great, cataclysmic arrival of a King which did not happen. John may have felt forgotten as he sat in prison and needed reassurance that he was in prison for the right reason and that Jesus remembered him. Jesus sent the two men back to John with reassurances of love.
All of this is not in Matthew 3 but comes from other study books, but I think is necessary to give credence to the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner for the arrival of Jesus Christ.
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