“And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?”
John replied, 'I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know' — the Baptist deflects by subordinating his water baptism to another's superior work. "Among you stands one you do not know" contains double irony: the Messiah is physically present yet spiritually unrecognized by those asking the questions. The contrast between water baptism (visible, temporal) and the coming figure's baptism (Spirit, eternal) previews John's characteristic elevation of the spiritual above the material.
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