The Strength Needed to Enter the Kingdom of God

By means of an in-depth study of Luke 16:16 and its context, Giuseppe G. Scollo intends to draw its readers into new scholarly appreciation of one of the most ambiguous and discussed NT sayings, an authentic crux interpretum in modern scholarship, that of the so-called "violence passage," as recorded in the Gospel of Luke: "The law and the prophets lasted until John; but from then on the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone who enters does so with violence" (NAB 2011). While issues that still demand an explanation by modern-day exegetes are addressed (see the meaning of "violence" contained in the verb biazomai, the identity of the alleged "violent" agents, and the nature of their action with regard to the basileia of God), evidence warrants a new look at the teachings surrounding the Lucan verse and its narrative setting in the light of the love commandment and its Targumic interpretation.