A.T. Robertson Commentary Matthew 19:20

"The young man saith unto him, All these things have I observed: what lack I yet?" — Matthew 19:20 (ASV)

What lack I yet? (τ ετ υστερω?) Here is a psychological paradox. He claims to have kept all these commandments and yet he was not satisfied. He had an uneasy conscience and Jesus called him to something that he did not have. He thought of goodness as quantitative (a series of acts) and not qualitative (of the nature of God). Did his question reveal proud complacency or pathetic despair? A bit of both most likely.