Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 19:16

"And behold, one came to him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" — Matthew 19:16 (ASV)

Behold, one came and said... — The vagueness with which a man, who must have been prominent, is introduced without a name is significant. He was, like Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews” (Luke 18:18), that is, probably a member of the Sanhedrin or great Council, like Joseph of Arimathea. Besides this, he was conspicuously rich and of a noble and zealous character.

There is one other case in the first two Gospels that presents similar phenomena. In the narrative of the supper at Bethany, Matthew and Mark record the passionate affection that expressed itself in pouring the precious ointment of spikenard on our Lord’s head as the act of “a woman” (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3), leaving her unnamed. In John 12:3, we find that the woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. This line of thought suggests that here, too, there may have been reasons for omitting from the records a name that was familiar to the narrator.

What if the young ruler were Lazarus himself? The points of agreement are numerous enough to support the conjecture. The household of Lazarus, as the spikenard ointment shows, was from the wealthier class. The friends who came to comfort the grieving sisters were themselves, in John's language, “of the Jews”—that is, of the chief rulers (John 11:19). The young ruler was obviously a Pharisee, and the language of Martha (John 11:24) shows that she also believed in eternal life and the resurrection of the dead. The answer to the young ruler, One thing thou lackest (as given by Mark and Luke), is almost identical to the answer to Martha, One thing is needful (Luke 10:42).

In such a case, of course, nothing can be attained beyond conjectural inference, but I must declare my belief that the coincidences in this case make the evidence highly probable. It is obvious that the hypothesis, if true, immensely adds to the interest of both the narrative before us and the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus in John 11.

Good Master — The better manuscripts omit the adjective, and it has probably been added here by later copyists to bring the passage into verbal agreement with the narrative of Mark and Luke. From the prominence given to it in the form of our Lord’s answer, as reported by them, we can reasonably believe it was actually spoken by the questioner. The words show reverence and at least a partial belief. They are such as might well come from the brother of one who had sat at Jesus’ feet, drinking in His words (Luke 10:39)—from one who, like Nicodemus, looked on Him as a Teacher sent from God.

That I may have eternal life — In Mark (Mark 10:17) and Luke (Luke 18:18), and in some of the oldest manuscripts of Matthew, the wording is, that I may inherit eternal life. The question exhibits the highest and noblest phase of Pharisaism. The seeker has a firm belief in something he knows as “eternal life.” He thirsts for it eagerly. He believes it is to be won, as a perpetual inheritance, by some single good deed of exceptional and heroic goodness. The Teacher has left him with the impression of a goodness such as he had seldom, if ever, seen before, and he therefore sees Him as able to guide him to the Supreme Good.