16. Yes, the Word was full of grace and truth, and from him we all received one blessing after another.
17. That is, the law was given to us through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18. No one has ever seen God. The only Son is the one who has shown us what God is like. He is himself God and is very close to the Father.
19. The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, “Who are you?” He told them the truth.
20. Without any hesitation he said openly and plainly, “I am not the Messiah.”
21. They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.” They asked, “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”
22. Then they said, “Who are you? Tell us about yourself. Give us an answer to tell the people who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23. John told them the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I am the voice of someone shouting in the desert: ‘Make a straight road ready for the Lord.’” Isaiah 40:3
24. These Jews were sent from the Pharisees.
25. They said to John, “You say you are not the Messiah. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”
26. John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is someone here with you that you don’t know.
27. He is the one who is coming later. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties the strings on his sandals.”
28. These things all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.
29. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God. He takes away the sins of the world!
30. This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘There is a man coming after me who is greater than I am, because he was living even before I was born.’
31. I did not know who he was. But I came baptizing people with water so that Israel could know that he is the Messiah.”