Doesn’t Luke 16:16 mean Jesus did away with the Old Testament?

In this verse, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees “who were lovers of money” (v. 14). Christ had just rebuked those who worshiped “mammon” (v. 13). He now turns to these religious leaders who “heard all these things and they derided Him” (v. 14). Notice Jesus’ pointed words: “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (v. 15).

The Pharisees felt no need of Christ. They were blind to His role as the Messiah, who not only fulfilled Old Testament symbols, but had now come to announce the kingdom of God. They scorned the messages of Jesus and were jealous of the growing numbers who turned away from them to this new teacher. The Pharisees claimed to stand firmly on the law and the prophets, but Jesus showed how their self-justifying spirit fell flat before God.

To paraphrase Luke 16:16, “The Old Testament Scriptures bring us up to the time of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the Messiah.” The verse then says, “Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” Jesus was telling them, “The law and the prophets on which you think you so firmly stand points to My coming, yet you reject Me and are jealous of all the people who are turning to my preaching.”

Jesus repeatedly upheld the law (Matthew 5:17), as did the other writers of the New Testament (Acts 26:22). The Old Testament was a sufficient guide to lead people to heaven (Luke 16:19–31). The church found its strongest confirmation of faith in Christ through the prophecies of the Old Testament (Acts 7:37). The phrase in Luke 16:16, “Since that time,” refers to the time since John the Baptist began to preach and call attention to the coming of Jesus and the greater light He would bring to the world.

Key Bible Texts

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. (Luke 16:16 KJV)