There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.<\/p>\n
Now this was John\u2019s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, \u201cI am not the Messiah.\u201d<\/p>\n
They asked him, \u201cThen who are you? Are you Elijah?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cI am not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you the Prophet?\u201d<\/p>\n
He answered, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally they said, \u201cWho are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, \u201cI am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, \u2018Make straight the way for the Lord.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, \u201cWhy then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI baptize with water,\u201d John replied, \u201cbut among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.\u201d<\/p>\n
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.<\/p>\n
![\"Elijah,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/baburkard.com\/crochet\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/E-JB-JC.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"