You yourselves testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before him.'
The Christ ...  John the Baptist's designation of Jesus as the Christ, in these words, is different from "Lamb of God" which he called him at first. Both titles carry the same great weight; but "Christ" had a sharper and more dramatic meaning for Israel.  John's use of it indicates that he recognized the full import of Jesus' mission on earth.