For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
The law is the five books of Moses and the prophets are the former prophets and the latter prophets except Daniel, and all of them carried the prophetic testimony up to John where that period closed. Until he came they were the people's means of instruction and only light, and from him onward the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven were preached with the light of the gospel. That preaching came in addition to the law and the prophets, not in place of them, and does not mean the law ended, was nailed to the cross, or was abolished, nor does it set aside the Sabbath or fourth commandment, since Christ taught obedience to every precept. The law and the prophets pointed forward to John as the promised messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare a people for the Lord, and in him and in Jesus whom he introduced as the Lamb of God their foretelling about the coming Messiah reached its fulfillment. The types and offerings that foreshadowed future events met their antitypes in Christ, while the Ten Commandments remain as moral precepts governing character in every age and as the expression of God's righteousness.
Meaning and Context
The law is the five books of Moses — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy — and the prophets are the former prophets — Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, and First and Second Kings — and the latter prophets — all the prophetic books except Daniel — and all these books prophesied until John. The saying belongs with John sending two disciples to ask if Jesus is the Coming One, Jesus answering by curing diseases and preaching good tidings to the poor, his testimony that John is more than a prophet and the messenger sent to prepare the way, and his rebuke of that generation for rejecting both John the Baptist and the Son of man.
To prophesy until John is to teach the people, to be their means of instruction and their only light before John came, while from John on the kingdom of God was preached with the light of the gospel. That marks a change in what was preached, with additional light of the gospel of the kingdom after John, not the end or abolition of the law and the prophets nor their ceasing to exist.
The prophetic period of the law and the prophets extended up to John and closed with John the Baptist, who stands at the end of the period in which the law and the prophets prophesied. His message announced that the Messiah was about to be revealed, and its fulfillment came within his generation. The kingdom of heaven belongs to the gospel age, was seen in Christ's ministry, and was established on earth with power at Pentecost, while the age of probationary time that began with John's preaching followed, and since then the kingdom of heaven has been preached. As his message continued until Christ was revealed, so the second-advent message will continue until Jesus appears, within the generation that hears it.
Law Not Abolished
To prophesy until John is to be preached until John, and from John onward the kingdom of God was preached in addition to the law and the prophets, not in place of them, marking a change in what was preached and not the end of the law and the prophets. The verse does not say that either the law or the prophets ceased at that time. If the law had ceased when John came, the prophets would have ceased too, leaving no Old Testament prophecies of Christ and none reaching into this age.
The verse does not mean that God's law ended, ceased, was nailed to the cross, or was abolished when John came. It does not exclude the Sabbath or the fourth commandment from the law, for the law and the prophets do not leave the Sabbath commandment outside their scope, and Christ taught obedience to every precept, including the fourth. The reference to the time until John does not make the law itself identical with its ministration, a distinction important for reading 2 Corinthians 3.
The law remains in force, for it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of it to fail, as shown by Christ immediately upholding its binding claim that putting away a wife and remarrying is adultery. Any abolition of the law belongs to the cross of Christ, not to John's ministry. To say the law lasted only until John began his ministry and therefore passed away before the cross contradicts the claim that it was abolished at the cross.
The law that pointed forward to future events, especially through its types and offerings foreshadowing events in the time of John and Christ, is distinct from the Ten Commandments, which are moral precepts governing human character in every age and remain God's rule of right, while the types and offerings find their fulfillment in their antitypes. The law and the prophets foretold and foreshadowed the great truths of the gospel until John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God, at which point the types met their fulfillment in Christ and the earlier foreshadowing gave way to the fullness of light and life revealed in him. The time up to John was a period when the law and the prophets were preached without their full significance being attached to them, but when Christ appeared he presented the law as the essence of God's kingdom and the guide for his people's conduct, so John's time did not mark the law's end.
The work of the law and the prophets in foretelling reached to John, marking the start of the change from the old covenant to the new. That change began with the preaching of John and ended with the preaching of Christ, when the time was fulfilled as the seventy weeks, the fullness of the time, the time of reformation, and the coming of the Seed, so there is no conflict with the law being a schoolmaster unto Christ. The law remains the expression of God's righteousness.
John and Fulfillment
All the law and the prophets pointed forward to John the Baptist as the close of their era. He came as the promised messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare a people for the Lord. The blessings connected with his message depended on Israel receiving him as a prophet sent by God. His fulfilling of the coming of Elijah was in a lesser, typical way, going in Elijah's spirit and power rather than being Elijah returned as one person, and had he been received many would have joined him in that same spirit and power to carry the gospel to the world. He and his work are identified with the prophecies concerning Elijah in Malachi 4:5-6 as Christ's forerunner at His first advent. He stands where the testimony of the law and the prophets about the coming Messiah reached its fulfillment, for Jesus was fulfilling the predictions given by the prophets and was therefore the one they foretold.
His message announced that the Messiah was about to be revealed, and its fulfillment came within his generation. That message of preparing the way for the Lord continues in its application until the Lord comes in glory, calling people to turn their hearts before the earth faces destruction. As his message continued until Christ was revealed, so he represents those who will prepare people for Christ's second coming, whose second-advent message will continue until Jesus appears, within the generation that hears it.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to the gospel age, was seen in Christ's ministry, and was established on earth with power at Pentecost. The age of probationary time began with John's preaching, and since then the kingdom of heaven has been preached.
The law is the five books of Moses and the prophets are the former prophets and the latter prophets except Daniel, and all of them carried the prophetic testimony up to John where that period closed.
Until he came they were the people's means of instruction and only light, and from him onward the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven were preached with the light of the gospel.
That preaching came in addition to the law and the prophets, not in place of them, and does not mean the law ended, was nailed to the cross, or was abolished, nor does it set aside the Sabbath or fourth commandment, since Christ taught obedience to every precept.
The law and the prophets pointed forward to John as the promised messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare a people for the Lord, and in him and in Jesus whom he introduced as the Lamb of God their foretelling about the coming Messiah reached its fulfillment.
The types and offerings that foreshadowed future events met their antitypes in Christ, while the Ten Commandments remain as moral precepts governing character in every age and as the expression of God's righteousness.
Meaning and Context
The law is the five books of Moses — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy — and the prophets are the former prophets — Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, and First and Second Kings — and the latter prophets — all the prophetic books except Daniel — and all these books prophesied until John. The saying belongs with John sending two disciples to ask if Jesus is the Coming One, Jesus answering by curing diseases and preaching good tidings to the poor, his testimony that John is more than a prophet and the messenger sent to prepare the way, and his rebuke of that generation for rejecting both John the Baptist and the Son of man.
To prophesy until John is to teach the people, to be their means of instruction and their only light before John came, while from John on the kingdom of God was preached with the light of the gospel. That marks a change in what was preached, with additional light of the gospel of the kingdom after John, not the end or abolition of the law and the prophets nor their ceasing to exist.
The prophetic period of the law and the prophets extended up to John and closed with John the Baptist, who stands at the end of the period in which the law and the prophets prophesied. His message announced that the Messiah was about to be revealed, and its fulfillment came within his generation. The kingdom of heaven belongs to the gospel age, was seen in Christ's ministry, and was established on earth with power at Pentecost, while the age of probationary time that began with John's preaching followed, and since then the kingdom of heaven has been preached. As his message continued until Christ was revealed, so the second-advent message will continue until Jesus appears, within the generation that hears it.
Law Not Abolished
To prophesy until John is to be preached until John, and from John onward the kingdom of God was preached in addition to the law and the prophets, not in place of them, marking a change in what was preached and not the end of the law and the prophets. The verse does not say that either the law or the prophets ceased at that time. If the law had ceased when John came, the prophets would have ceased too, leaving no Old Testament prophecies of Christ and none reaching into this age.
The verse does not mean that God's law ended, ceased, was nailed to the cross, or was abolished when John came. It does not exclude the Sabbath or the fourth commandment from the law, for the law and the prophets do not leave the Sabbath commandment outside their scope, and Christ taught obedience to every precept, including the fourth. The reference to the time until John does not make the law itself identical with its ministration, a distinction important for reading 2 Corinthians 3.
The law remains in force, for it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of it to fail, as shown by Christ immediately upholding its binding claim that putting away a wife and remarrying is adultery. Any abolition of the law belongs to the cross of Christ, not to John's ministry. To say the law lasted only until John began his ministry and therefore passed away before the cross contradicts the claim that it was abolished at the cross.
The law that pointed forward to future events, especially through its types and offerings foreshadowing events in the time of John and Christ, is distinct from the Ten Commandments, which are moral precepts governing human character in every age and remain God's rule of right, while the types and offerings find their fulfillment in their antitypes. The law and the prophets foretold and foreshadowed the great truths of the gospel until John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God, at which point the types met their fulfillment in Christ and the earlier foreshadowing gave way to the fullness of light and life revealed in him. The time up to John was a period when the law and the prophets were preached without their full significance being attached to them, but when Christ appeared he presented the law as the essence of God's kingdom and the guide for his people's conduct, so John's time did not mark the law's end.
The work of the law and the prophets in foretelling reached to John, marking the start of the change from the old covenant to the new. That change began with the preaching of John and ended with the preaching of Christ, when the time was fulfilled as the seventy weeks, the fullness of the time, the time of reformation, and the coming of the Seed, so there is no conflict with the law being a schoolmaster unto Christ. The law remains the expression of God's righteousness.
John and Fulfillment
All the law and the prophets pointed forward to John the Baptist as the close of their era. He came as the promised messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare a people for the Lord. The blessings connected with his message depended on Israel receiving him as a prophet sent by God. His fulfilling of the coming of Elijah was in a lesser, typical way, going in Elijah's spirit and power rather than being Elijah returned as one person, and had he been received many would have joined him in that same spirit and power to carry the gospel to the world. He and his work are identified with the prophecies concerning Elijah in Malachi 4:5-6 as Christ's forerunner at His first advent. He stands where the testimony of the law and the prophets about the coming Messiah reached its fulfillment, for Jesus was fulfilling the predictions given by the prophets and was therefore the one they foretold.
His message announced that the Messiah was about to be revealed, and its fulfillment came within his generation. That message of preparing the way for the Lord continues in its application until the Lord comes in glory, calling people to turn their hearts before the earth faces destruction. As his message continued until Christ was revealed, so he represents those who will prepare people for Christ's second coming, whose second-advent message will continue until Jesus appears, within the generation that hears it.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to the gospel age, was seen in Christ's ministry, and was established on earth with power at Pentecost. The age of probationary time began with John's preaching, and since then the kingdom of heaven has been preached.