Who are you???

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”(John 1:19-20 ESV)

While Luke and Matthew go from the baptism of Jesus to the Temptation, then on to Nazareth, John chooses to focus on a different series of events, beginning with the Jewish leaders who came out to check on John the Baptist. He includes many of the same baptism details as the other Gospel writers , but points out this specific audience for what John said:

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’(John 1:29-30 ESV)

Notice that John points back to his answer given the day before to the Jewish leaders. They were still there. In between, John had baptized Jesus and seen the Spirit descend upon Him. He is now able to tell them: And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”(John 1:34 ESV)

What a bonus for those who came asking - they got more than they asked for. God often offers the same to us - more than we asked for, IF we are willing to stay awhile longer and listen.

From what we see later in this Gospel, those who came seeking did not do what they should have with the answers they received. May we be willing to receive what God tells us, and even a little bit more than we asked for.