21They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
22Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" - P30
23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’" - P24
26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know.
27He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." - P31
John does not shy away from the confrontation. He confesses freely that he is not trying to gain any fame by claiming to be the Messiah, Elijah, or another specific prophet. - P32
He is baptizing with water as a sign of purification, but the Messiah will come to fully cleanse the people of their sins. When Christians are baptized today, we recognize that our old life of sin is of the past and that we now have a new life in Christ. - P32
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