16:16–18 Contained in these three verses are three sayings, originally independent in all likelihood (as comparison with Matt. 11:12–13; 5:18, 32 would seem to indicate). What connection these sayings have with the surrounding context is not immediately clear. In view of Jesus’ teaching about proper standards for living in the new age, Luke possibly wished to clarify how the law, the rule and guide for the old era, should be understood. In the first saying (v. 16) Jesus declares that the Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. John the Baptist is both the end of the old era and the beginning of the new. His was a ministry of preparation for the coming of the Messiah (see 1:57–80; 3:1–20). Since John’s time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, that is, it is bein…