"John the Baptist's work made
---a great stir (And there went out unto him all the land of 
Judaea, and they of
Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan,
confessing their sins. Mark 1:5),
---and a general belief that it was time for the Messiah led to a spirit of inquiry concerning this man of the wilderness (And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; Luke 3:15).
--Sacrificial offerings of animals could not avail (For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Heb. 10:4),
--but the death of Christ met every demand for all time (And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Heb. 9:15)
--and for the whole world (And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2).
When, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John had pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, a new light was shed upon the Savior's mission.
-The work of John accomplished the right result,-his disciples heard him, but they followed Jesus.
-The great apostasy was caused by men winning disciples to themselves. (Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:30)."
Sabbath School Lesson 1896