Luke 16:16

The Hebrew Scriptures should have been of primary importance to the Pharisees. They pointed to the coming of Messiah. Since John the Baptist had come the message that he and Jesus had proclaimed had been that the Messiah was present and the kingdom was at hand. A new era had begun with John’s preaching, not the kingdom. The Pharisees had disregarded that preaching and in doing so had rejected the teaching of the Old Testament even though their fellow Jews were trying to get into the kingdom (cf. Luke 13:24; Luke 14:15; Mark 7:8-9).

The fact that Jesus said something similar about the kingdom on another occasion that Matthew recorded has raised questions about Jesus’ meaning here and there (cf. Matthew 11:12-13). In Matthew, Jesus’ point was this. The Jewish religious leaders were trying to bring in the kingdom in their own carnal way while refusing to accept God’s way that John and Jesus announced. In the different teaching situation that Luke recorded, Jesus said something similar but slightly different. His point here was that many of the Jews were eager to enter the kingdom, but the religious leaders were hindering them by rejecting John and Jesus’ ministries.

". . . those pressing into the kingdom must be at least as much in earnest as the violent men of Palestine who tried to bring in the kingdom by force of arms. In the context we may think of men like the astute steward." [Note: Morris, p. 251.]