Passage
The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees.
John 1:24 (WEB)
Nearby Context
John 1:22 They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John 1:23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’Isaiah 40:3 as Isaiah the prophet said.”
John 1:24 The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees.
John 1:25 They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”
John 1:26 John answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "ones", "been", "sent", and "pharisees". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ones" and "been", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 23's "He said I am the voice of..." into verse 25's "They asked him Why then do you...", so "ones" and "been" 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 "ones" and "been" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.