Passage
John answered them, saying, I baptize in water: in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not,
John 1:26 (ASV)
Nearby Context
John 1:24 And they had been sent from the Pharisees.
John 1:25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the prophet?
John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize in water: in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not,
John 1:27 [even] he that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.
John 1:28 These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "john", "answered", "saying", "baptize", "water", "midst", and "standeth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "john" and "answered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 25's "And they asked him and said unto..." into verse 27's "even he that cometh after me the...", so "john" and "answered" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "john" and "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.