The religious leaders challenged die baptizer: “What do you say about yourself?” Who was he? Was he Elijah? Was he the Christ? Some other prophet? The preacher clearly declared, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’ … I baptize with water … but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:22–23, 26–27). John the Baptist defined himself in two ways: 1. He was not the
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