Matthew 11:13 Meaning and Explanation

Jesus sweeps across the whole of earlier Scripture: "all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." From Moses through the prophets, the entire prior witness leaned forward, anticipating what was to come. John marks the boundary where promise meets fulfillment.

The law and the prophets were never an end in themselves; they were a long, hopeful pointing toward the One now arriving. Every sacrifice, every oracle, every commandment carried a forward lean. With John, the age of anticipation reaches its hinge, and the awaited One steps into view. To read all of Scripture rightly is to see it straining toward Christ -- the goal toward which every page had been turned.