John 1:15–28

¹⁵John gives witness about him. He cries out and says, “This was the one I was talking about. I said, ‘He who comes after me is more important than I am. He is more important because he existed before I was born.’ ”

¹⁶We have all received one blessing after another. God’s grace is not limited. ¹⁷Moses gave us the law. Jesus Christ has given us grace and truth.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God. But God, the one and only Son, is at the Father’s side. He has shown us what God is like.

John the Baptist Is Not the Christ

¹⁹The Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. John gave witness to them. ²⁰He did not try to hide the truth. He spoke to them openly. He said, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet we’ve been expecting?” they asked.

“No,” he answered.

²²They asked one last time, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³John replied, using the words of Isaiah the prophet. John said, “I’m the messenger who is calling out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight.’ ”

²⁴Some Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵asked him, “If you are not the Christ, why are you baptizing people? Why are you doing that if you aren’t Elijah or the Prophet we’ve been expecting?”

²⁶“I baptize people with water,” John replied. “But One is standing among you whom you do not know. ²⁷He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.”

²⁸This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. That was where John was baptizing.