It was John the Baptist who had first spelled it out: “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ’ ” Jesus presented himself as the one prophesied in the scriptures. He didn’t say to the crowds that he had written new scripture; he said, “This that is written must yet be accomplished in me.” He was the scripture, its living manifestation: “The Word was made flesh.”
