And a certain ruler asked him saying, Good teacher, having done what, shall I inherit eternal life?
A man of standing stops Jesus in the road with the one question his wealth could not answer. Everything turns on two small phrases: the title he gives Jesus, and the verb he picks for getting eternal life.
Luke calls him a ruler, and the next verses show he was rich. Neither settled what brought him running.
The young man was a ruler, and he was rich. But ruler though he was, and rich as well, the question of having eternal life was still unsettled in his soul. Clearly he was an earnest young man. He was running: "a man ran up and knelt before him." Clearly he thought about eternal things. The question of how to get eternal life had crossed his mind. He did not have it; he wanted it.
The Lord does not answer the question first. He challenges the title, because a compliment paid to Jesus as a fine man is a denial of who He is.
With the ruler, our Lord shows that everything is wrong where a soul has not come to know that no one is good but God. Had he really known how good God is, he would soon have seen God in Jesus. He saw nothing of the sort. He knew neither God nor good. He looked on the Lord as merely good in a human way. If He was only a man there was no goodness in Him; goodness is only in God: God alone is good. If Jesus were not God, He was not good. The young ruler had no right, no just title, to say "Good Teacher", unless that teacher were God. He did not see this. So the Lord tests him and searches the ground of his heart, and shows that after all he valued the world more than God and eternal life.
The counter-question was also an open door. It gave the man a chance to confess who Jesus is.
But Jesus listened to the young man's question, and answered it in His own way. He said, "Why do you call me good?" The term was true. But the question gave the ruler a chance to exercise his faith in the Lord and to confess His name. He was looking at One who was a "man of sorrows", and yet that humble Man was the Man whom God had anointed, God's equal, the Son of God here below. This Man in front of him was God Himself in person — to believe on, if he would.
The ruler asks what he must do. His verb points back to the law, where work earns wages.
The Lord had just spoken of receiving the kingdom as a little child. Then the ruler asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" His mind swung back to the works of the law. He did not know what Paul tells us in Romans 4:4: "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due." Since the ruler came on this basis, the Lord referred him to the Law, as regards his duty to his neighbour. When he claimed to have kept it from his youth up, the Lord tested him further as to his relation to Himself. "Come, follow Me." Who is this Me? That was the supreme question, on which everything hinged, whether for the ruler or for ourselves.
The child in the earlier scene had shown the opposite principle in action.
A little child receives a gift and does nothing for it. This was the very opposite of the ministry of the law. Eternal life is now the gift of God to those who, like a little child, do nothing for it: otherwise it would not be a gift.
The verb he chose carries its own sense — not earning, but coming into possession of something held for you.
"Inherit eternal life." Inherit stands for "take possession of," as in Matthew 25:34. So in Luke 18:18. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke it is regarded as held in reserve; so in Paul's letters too. Luke 18:22 tells us that the young man was to have treasure in heaven.
The Lord's answer ended in a demand that measured the man against Himself.
He brought an uneasy conscience. He saw that the Lord was a good man, as we say. He watched the life of the Lord Jesus and had no doubt that He had the secret of peace. So he came and put his question... "One thing you still lack," said the Lord; "Sell all that you have and come, follow Me." What does that mean? It means that if I will put myself in the track of Christ, I must be like Christ. The Lord gave up everything and came down as an emptied Man to serve others.
- Earnest — He was young, rich, a ruler and sincere, yet he knew he did not have eternal life.
- Title — "Good Teacher" was true only if Jesus is God; the Lord refuses the compliment to press the confession.
- Doing — His verb was "do", but the child in the previous scene had just shown that the kingdom is received as a gift.
- Inherit — The word means to take possession of what God holds in reserve: treasure in heaven, not wages earned.
- One thing — The final test measured him against Christ Himself, who gave up everything to serve.
But Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, God.
A ruler greets Jesus as "Good Teacher" and asks what he must do to gain eternal life. Jesus takes hold of the greeting before He touches the question. Behind one word lies the deepest issue of all: who is this Man, and is there any goodness in the man asking?
The ruler meant to honour Jesus, yet the title he chose showed how little he had seen:
There was no lack of moral integrity here, and no failure in reverence to One he sensed to be greater than himself. He was earnest, he honestly respected that righteous man, and he truly wanted to learn a new lesson and take a fresh step in doing good. It was nature doing its best, yet wrong at the root. His question assumed that man was good and could do good — man as he is. His very greeting of honour to Jesus proved that he did not know who Jesus was, and so did not know the truth about God or about man. Had the young ruler believed Him to be the Son of the living God, he would never have addressed Him as "Good Teacher." That title suits a respected and honoured teacher. It was both needless and improper for One who was equal with God and was God.
We call people good every day, and Scripture allows that. The Lord is measuring by another rule:
Guilt destroyed whatever goodness Adam had while innocent. So God's verdict on man is that there is none good, not one. By human standards we speak of "a good man," and Scripture recognises that standard. By God's standard there is none good. When the Lord was on earth, men called Him "Good Teacher," and He replied, "No one is good except God alone." But the man who came to Him did not have the faith to answer as Thomas did, "My Lord and my God!"
The Lord's reply is not modesty. It leaves only two possible conclusions:
Then we have the ruler. Our Lord shows him that everything is wrong where a soul has not come to know that there is none good but God. Had he really known how good God is, he would soon have seen God in Jesus. He saw nothing of the sort. He knew neither God nor good. He looked on the Lord as good only in a human way. If He was only a man there was no goodness in Him; goodness is only in God: God alone is good. If Jesus were not God, He was not good. The young ruler had no right, no just title to say "Good Teacher," unless that Teacher were God.
The question did not shut the man out. It gave him a chance to say more than he had said:
But Jesus listened to the young man's question, and answered it in His own way: "Why do you call Me good?" The term was true. But the question gave the ruler the chance to exercise his faith in the Lord and to confess His name. He was looking at Him who was a "Man of sorrows," yet that humble Man was the One whom God had anointed, the Man who stands next to God, the Son of God here below. This Man in front of him was God Himself in person, there for him to believe in if he would. Jesus was good because He was God, and if the young ruler had only believed on Him, his words would have been completely true and right.
Some have read the verse as Jesus denying His own goodness. Where the stress falls in the sentence settles the matter:
The emphasis is on "good," not on "Me." … This is no more an admission of imperfection than His question in Luke 20:41-44 is a denial that He is David's son.
The ruler asked about doing. The answer strikes at the assumption buried in his question:
But he came with this thought, you see, that he must "do" something. We have all thought the same. When we think of possessing eternal life, the first thought is always, "What shall I do?" The Lord replies at once, "Why do you call Me good?" He does not answer the question directly. He puts another question to him: "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone." That ought to have struck his conscience at once with the sense: if God alone is good, then I am not good, and so I cannot do any "good thing."
- Good — measured. By human reckoning we call people good. By God's reckoning there is none good, and that is where the Lord stands.
- Good — refused. He will not take the title as a compliment from a man who saw in Him only a fine teacher.
- Good — claimed. If goodness belongs to God alone, Jesus is either God or He is not good. The title fits Him only if He is God.
- Good — offered. The question was an open door. The ruler could have confessed who Jesus is, and his words would have been right.
- Good — undone in us. If no one is good but God, no one can bring God a good thing to do. So "What shall I do?" is the wrong question from the start.