As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?  A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see?  Someone dressed in soft robes?  Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.  What then did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'  Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

In declaring John to be the greatest of the prophets Jesus is inviting us to go back through history and trace the succession of the prophets.  He does this because he knows that in doing so we will see that the entire prophetic line ends with the great John the Baptist and becomes completely fulfilled in Jesus.  Jesus wants us to discover him in this way!

Jesus Christ is not only the fulfillment of all prophecy, he is also the completion of the prophetic line.  Furthermore, he is the incarnation of all prophecy.  The prophets spoke about God's word, here is the Word of God.  In his very person Christ is complete prophetic fulfillment.

Christ is the incarnation of all prophetic fulfillment.  He is the incarnation and completion of the ancient line of kings.  So too is he both the fulfillment of the law as well as its embodiment: he is the incarnate law.  There can be no new or different prophecy, no new or different kingship and particularly no new or different law outside of the Prophet, King and Law who is Christ, in his flesh, in his person, in his speech and through his own established body, the Church.

Christ is the yesterday, today and tomorrow.  By being the fulfillment of all things he is also the beginning and end of all things.  This is why he can say "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 22.12-13)

Do you understand this mystery?  Through Holy Wisdom, who is Christ, we understand that all things were created through Him who was present to the Father at the beginning of all things.  Through Prophecy, who is Christ, we see that He will be present at the end of all things and indeed, all things have their end in Him.

Through the line of kings Christ, who is King, shows us how his kingship in heaven will unfold for eternity.  And in giving the law in time, through Christ the Father has led us to find the final end of all laws in Christ the Law.

Christ is the beginning and end of creation, its source and destiny.  So too is he the beginning and end of the Father's revelation of himself to man, our instruction, our guidance, comfort and hope.

In being the beginning and end of all these great things is he not the beginning and end of what we would consider smaller things too?  He is the beginning and end of each day.  He is the beginning and end of every meal, every relationship, every bit of learning.  All love starts and ends in Him.  The song of every bird, the ebb and flow of every ocean, the heartbeat of every infant and the breath of each creature unfolds the mystery of the utter dominion of He Who is Dominion, the source of all things and the final destiny of all who believe in the adoption he won for us in his own sacrificial flesh.