Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 16:17

"But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fall." — Luke 16:17 (ASV)

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass. (See notes on Matthew 5:18). Our first impression on reading the words here is that there is less logical sequence in their position. They seem unconnected with the teaching concerning the mammon of unrighteousness. It is possible that here, as elsewhere, some links of the chain have been omitted; but the explanation that has been given of the preceding parable gives a sufficient connection. The scribes and Pharisees had been tampering with the sacredness of the laws which are not of today or yesterday—fixed as the everlasting hills—and they are told that their casuistry cannot set aside the claims of those laws in any single instance, such as, e.g., that which immediately follows.