"And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."
In today's quote, John the Baptist further related that he was NOT the Messiah, nor was he one of the other great prophets returned, he was instead, the man prophesied to be sent from God to prepare His people for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we have already learned, that preparation required the John perform water baptism for those who wished to follow Mosaic law by being washed in clean running water (baptized) before entering in to any religious experience.
John went on to demonstrate, again, that he only baptized with water and by so doing, diminished the importance of his water baptism in comparison to the baptism of the Holy Ghost that would soon be offered by Jesus Christ.~
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