John is approached by the Pharisees to give an accounting of sorts of himself and his ministry. There are two enigmatic and expected figures who are expected along with Messiah in Judaism. Elijah didn't die but was taken up in a whirlwind and Malachi speaks of his Elijah as forerunner of Messiah. Moses, in Deuteronomy 18:15, says "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen..." The Pharisees ask in turn if John is Messiah, Elijah or this prophet as his ministry is unlike any other and it is being blessed. John says, none of the above, I am the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness to make straight the path for the Lord's coming. Like John, we are witnesses to the coming of Jesus but we have a better witness, a witness that says I can know with certainty if I am good enough to stand in that day. John spoke of one to come, we speak of the one who came and conquered death, not only for Himself, but for us as well.
