John 1:31

And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing in water.

These words of John the Baptist are remarkable for a number of reasons. He was a cousin of Jesus and as well acquainted with him as it was possible to be, from the purely human standpoint; and the meaning here has to be that John did not know that Jesus was the Messiah. He did know, however, that the Messiah was soon to appear, that he would shortly be manifested to Israel, and that his own heavenly commission was definitely connected with the appearance and identification of the Messiah. The words here are the equivalent of saying, "I did not know who Jesus really is, any more than you did." This and the following verses reveal the means by which John himself was enabled certainly to identify Jesus Christ as the Messiah.