Luke says they were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. Why were they so excited? John had come and explained to them the fulfillment of a certain prophecy. And when he said “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”, he meant it. It was a truth. The kingdom of God was at hand, and he had explained the decree of Artaxerxes and the 483 years and the 7 and 62, and it all lined right-up and right on time. The Prophet John showed up on the scene to herald the appearing of Messiah right on time. He was a miracle just like Jesus was a miracle; not the same father but the same kind of miracle. And John had explained to the people the prophecy predicting the appearing of the messiah, and this is why the Bible says that people were waiting expectantly. Remember the priests sent a group of Levites out to John in the wilderness and asked “Who are you? Are you the Christ? Nope! Are you Elijah? Nope! Are you that prophet that Moses talked about in Deuteronomy? Nope! Well, who are you? The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord!”