Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 10:25

"And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" — Luke 10:25 (ASV)

The expertise of the man in this incident lay in details of the Jewish religion. The fact that he wanted to “test” Jesus may, but does not necessarily, indicate hostility. He addressed Jesus as “teacher” and asked him about eternal life. Questions about achieving eternal life and about the essence of the law were common in Judaism; note his assumption of human responsibility in the attainment of eternal life. “Eternal life” here means the life of the kingdom.