The Kingdom of God and Baptism

Baptism was at the time of the interview between our lord and nicodemus, the great absorbing matter of interest in the nation. The fact that john baptized was regarded as evidence that he might claim to be the christ. In other words, it was a settled part of the conic on of the nation, that the messiah would baptize or accompany the initiation of men into his kingdom with the use of water. So they're already tying john's act of baptism is something that they're curious about. They're wanting to know, who is this guy? Is this guy thinking he's the messiah?