Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 19:17

"And he said unto him, Why askest thou me concerning that which is good? One there is who is good: but if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments." — Matthew 19:17 (ASV)

A certain man—identified by all three evangelists as rich, by Matthew (v.20) as young, and by Luke (18:18) as a ruler—asks Jesus what he must do to inherit “eternal life.” According to Matthew’s version, the word “good” (GK 19) stands alone rather than modifies teacher .

Irrespective of what “good” refers to, the man approaches Jesus with a question showing how far he is from the humble faith that characterizes all who belong to the kingdom (vv.13–15). He wants to earn eternal life; and in the light of v.20, he apparently thinks there are good things he can do, beyond the demands of the law, by which he can assure his salvation. Many Jews believed that a specific act of goodness could win eternal life; and this young man, assuming this opinion is correct, seeks Jesus’ view as to what that act might be. Jesus responds by calling into question the man’s inadequate understanding of goodness. In the absolute sense of goodness required to gain eternal life, only God is good (cf. Pss 106:1; 118:1, 29; et al.). Jesus will not allow anything other than God’s will to determine what is good. This man reveals by his questions that he wants something beyond God’s will (v.20) and that he misconstrues the absoluteness of God’s goodness.

“If you want to enter life, obey the commandments” (v.17) does not mean that eternal life is earned by keeping God’s laws. Jesus tells this man what good things he must do to gain eternal life precisely because he perceives this questioner does not understand the teaching that without a certain purity, one cannot inherit the kingdom (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10). But that is still far from telling him that by doing these things he will earn eternal life.