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?"

 When we read that passage there is echo after echo of what John says of the word in the John 1:1-51. Wisdom had that eternal existence, that light-giving function, that creative power which John attributed to the word, the Logos ( G3056) , with which he identified Jesus Christ. 