For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
All the prophets and the law prophesied until John: as if he had said, all they who prophesied before, foretold the coming of the Messias; but now John points him out present with you, so that now all the types and figures of the ancient law will be fulfilled, and are at an end. (Witham)
This should not exclude the prophets who came after John the Baptist, for we read in the Acts of the Apostles that Agabus and Philip’s four young unmarried daughters uttered prophecies. But insofar as the law and prophets of the Scriptures looked toward the future, they prophesied about our Lord. So when it is written, “All the prophets and the law up to the time of John have prophesied,” the time of Christ is made known as those previous voices had said it would come. Then John showed he had come. .
For the prophets would not have ceased, unless I had come. Expect therefore nothing further, neither wait for any one else. For that I am He is manifest both from the prophets ceasing, and from those that every day take by force the faith that is in me. For so manifest is it and certain, that many even take it by force. Why, who has so taken it? Tell me. All who approach it with earnestness of mind.
This, too, follows the same train of thought. For He is saying, I am He that cometh, for all the prophets have been fulfilled. They would not have been fulfilled if I had not come. Therefore, await nothing further.
