Passage
I did not know Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.”
John 1:31 (LSB)
Nearby Context
John 1:29 On the next day, he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’
John 1:31 I did not know Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.”
John 1:32 And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him.
John 1:33 And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "might", "manifested", "israel", "came", "baptizing", and "water". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "might" and "manifested", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 30's "This is He of whom I said..." into verse 32's "And John bore witness saying I have...", so "might" and "manifested" 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 "might" and "manifested" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.