The official delegation of investigators arrived from Jerusalem, to interview the hippie who was doing all the baptizing.
They got straight to the point and ask,“Who are you?”
“I am not the messiah,” he said straight off (I suppose those were the rumors).
Second on the rumor list was Elijah, so they asked, “Are you Elijah?”
John gave an interesting response: “Nope.”
God had not revealed to John that he was the one of whom Malachi spoke when he said, “I’ll send Elijah the prophet,” or the one who would come “in the spirit of Elijah” as Gabriel had put it to Zacharias just before Zach was muted.
Jesus was more succinct in His description of John: “he is Elijah.”
You’d think John could have taken one look in his closet, check out his wardrobe and realize, “Hey, I must be Elijah!” but no, he hadn’t caught on!