John 1:19-22

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No”. So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

When they asked John ‘Who are you?’ what made them so curious? Did they wonder ‘Could this man be the Messiah King come to defeat the Roman army?’ (like the return of Gesar to destroy the Whites)

‘No? Then is he the incarnation of Elijah?’

‘What then? Perhaps the great prophet Moses was his human tulku ancestor?’

‘If not, then who?’

John 1:23

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

The voice ringing out on the steppe was a warning, both for Isaiah’s time and for those of John’s time.

‘Get ready to meet the Lord. He will certainly come.

‘Clear the way –  like the straight Roman roads do, taming both mountains and rivers.  Make it quick and easy Him to come to you by repenting of your sins.’