THE LAW TILL JOHN by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 2, 1869

THE LAW TILL JOHN.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

“The Law and the Prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” Luke xvi, 16.

This passage is often quoted by those who say the law is abolished. They claim that it supports their position. The law was until John; then of course, say they, it ceased there. Since that time we have the gospel. But let us look at this a little more closely.

Not only the law, but also the prophets are mentioned as being until John. If the law ceased at John then the prophets also ceased there by the same rule;—the law and the prophets were until John. If this position be true then there should be no prophets after John. But there were prophets this side of John. He was beheaded by Herod long before the crucifixion of Christ; so Christ lived after the time of John. But Jesus was a prophet. Luke xxiv, 19; Acts iii, 22. When Jesus “ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. . . . And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists,” &c. Paul again says, that God has set prophets in the church, 1 Cor. xii, 28. Here we find prophets set in the church by the express appointment of God, not only after the time of John, but after the ascension of Jesus. Here in A. D. 41–44, we find the prophets exercising their gift in the church, Acts xi, 27, 28. “And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world; which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar.” So we might refer to others who were prophets after John. So it is certain that it does not mean that the prophets were to cease at John. Nor can it mean that the prophecies were to cease at John; for the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, &c., are yet fulfilling and to be fulfilled. No one will claim that the prophecies ceased at John. They are still as good as ever. Now we will look at the term law. Did it cease at John? Then it certainly was not abolished at the cross, for John was killed long before Jesus died. Those who claim the law abolished always point to the cross as the time when, and the place where, it was done. But then it could not have ceased at John. Here our friends again get into difficulty. So we conclude that their position is not a correct one.

Then what is the meaning of the passage? The parallel one in Matt. xi, 13, may help us to get the meaning of this one. It reads thus: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” Here we get the idea,—they prophesied or taught till John. They were the only means of teaching the people till John came; “since that time,” says Jesus in our text, “the kingdom of God is preached.” That is, the law and the prophets were preached then, but now we have all the light of the gospel. This appears to be the meaning. It will be noticed in the text that the word “were” is a supplied word. The connection plainly shows that the words, were preached, are the ones that should be supplied instead of the simple word “were.” Then it would read thus: “The law and the prophets were preached until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached.”

This relieves the text of all difficulty, and makes the meaning plain. In no case can it be fairly made to teach the abolition of the law at John.

D. M. CANRIGHT.