John 1:29

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. There were two Johns in the New Testament. The Apostle John was a follower of Jesus and one of His twelve disciples. He wrote the Book of John as well as I John, II John, III John, and Revelation. The other John was John the Baptist, who was Jesus' cousin and six months older than Jesus was. John the Baptist announced the coming of  Jesus, the Messiah and preached repentance. He told sinful people to change their sinful ways. When He baptized those who repented, they showed others their changed hearts by their baptisms. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he used a powerful word picture from the Old Testament. He called Jesus the Lamb of God. At the Temple, a man needing forgiveness came with a lamb. He laid his hands upon the lamb's head and then the priest offered that lamb as a sacrifice to God for the man's sin. The innocent lamb died in the sinful man's place. Isn't that a beautiful picture of Jesus' death on the cross? He was God's perfect, innocent Son who died in our place! John the Baptist had it right: Jesus was the Lamb of God which took away our sins!