“The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 16:16 Mean?
Jesus marks a transition point in salvation history: "The law and the prophets were until John." The era of the Old Testament — the law of Moses and the prophetic tradition — reached its culmination in John the Baptist. Since John, something new has begun: the kingdom of God is being preached, and people are pressing violently into it.
The phrase "every man presseth into it" (biazetai) describes forceful, violent, aggressive entry into the kingdom. The kingdom isn't entered passively; it requires force. The urgency is so intense that people are pressing in the way a crowd pushes through a narrow entrance — the desperation matches the value of what's being offered.
This verse doesn't mean the law and prophets are abolished (verse 17 immediately clarifies: "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail"). It means their era as the primary mode of God's communication has given way to a new era: the direct preaching of the kingdom.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does it mean to 'press into' the kingdom — and does your current approach match that urgency?
- 2.How does the transition from law-and-prophets to kingdom-preaching change the era you're living in?
- 3.Where has your approach to the kingdom been too passive or casual?
- 4.What obstacles are you willing to press through to enter what God is offering?
Devotional
The law and the prophets had their era. It ended with John. Since John, the kingdom is being preached — and people are violently pressing into it.
The transition Jesus describes is seismic. For fifteen hundred years, the law of Moses and the voice of the prophets were God's primary communication system. They were sufficient, authoritative, divinely given. And Jesus says: that era is over. Something new has arrived, and it's so compelling that people are fighting their way in.
The violence of the pressing-in describes genuine spiritual desperation. People aren't drifting casually into the kingdom. They're forcing their way through — like a crowd surging toward the one exit in a burning building. The kingdom's arrival has created urgency that doesn't wait in line or observe social niceties. It pushes.
This should challenge passive approaches to the kingdom. Jesus doesn't describe people politely considering the kingdom's merits. He describes people attacking the entrance. The kingdom is for the desperate, the forceful, the ones who want it badly enough to press in despite obstacles. If your approach to God's kingdom is casual, measured, and unhurried — you might be in the wrong era.
The law and prophets prepared the way. John announced the transition. And now the kingdom is here, being preached, and the appropriate response is not contemplation but force. Press in. The door is open and the feast is ready. Don't walk. Press.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture