John 1:21 (LSB)

Passage

And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

Nearby Context

John 1:19 And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

John 1:20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

John 1:21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

John 1:22 Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

John 1:23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "asked", "elijah", "said", "prophet", and "answered". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "asked" and "elijah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "And he confessed and did not deny..." into verse 22's "Therefore they said to him Who are...", so "asked" and "elijah" 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 "asked" and "elijah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.