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certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. You know the commandments: ‘Don’t commit adultery,’ ‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t give false testimony,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” He said, “I have observed all these things from my youth up.”
Luke 18:18-21
Luke 18 [15.] They were also bringing their babies to him, that he might touch them. But when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Jesus summoned them, saying, “Allow the little children to come to me, and don’t hinder them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these. Most certainly, I tell you, whoever doesn’t receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.”
Luke 18 [18.] A certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 18 [19.] Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. You know the commandments: ‘Don’t commit adultery,’ ‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t give false testimony,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
Luke 18 [21.] He said, “I have observed all these things from my youth up.”
Luke 18 [22.] When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me.”
Meaning:
Straight after Jesus said that God’s Kingdom must be received like a little child (Luke 18:15-17), a man of rank comes with a very adult question. Luke calls him “a certain ruler”; Matthew tells us he was young (Matthew 19:20), and Mark says he came running and knelt before Jesus (Mark 10:17). He was sincere, respectable and wealthy, and he wanted assurance of eternal life. The conversation in these verses prepares for the decisive word of Jesus that follows (Luke 18:22).
- “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
The question shows both earnestness and a misunderstanding. He speaks of inheriting, yet asks what he must do, as if an inheritance could be earned by effort. A lawyer had asked Jesus the same question earlier and was pointed to love of God and neighbour (Luke 10:25-28). The children in the previous scene did nothing but receive; this man assumes there must be one more achievement that will make him certain.
- “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God.”
Jesus is not denying his own goodness. He is making the ruler think about what he is saying. If only God is good, then the ruler’s polite title is either flattery or a confession that he is standing before God. The answer also exposes the ruler’s view of himself: if no one is good except God, then he too falls short. Scripture says, “There is no one righteous; no, not one” (Romans 3:10), and “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
- “You know the commandments”
Jesus quotes from the second half of the Ten Commandments, the ones about our neighbour: adultery, murder, theft, false testimony and honouring parents (Exodus 20:12; Exodus 20:13; Exodus 20:14; Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20). Notice what is missing: the last commandment, “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17). That is the very command that will test him when Jesus tells him to sell what he has. The law is meant to show us our need: “For through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).
- “I have observed all these things from my youth up”
The ruler answers honestly as far as outward behaviour goes. Like Paul before his conversion, he could probably claim to be blameless in the eyes of others. Mark records that “Jesus looking at him loved him” (Mark 10:21). Yet outward obedience had not given him peace, or he would not have asked. Jesus is about to show him the one thing that rules his heart (Luke 18:22).
The Significance of Luke 18:18-21
- The limits of being good
Many people, like this ruler, live decent lives and hope that will be enough. Jesus gently shows that goodness belongs fully to God alone. The law works as “our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).
- A searching question for us
We can keep the visible rules and still have a heart held by something other than God. It is worth asking what we would find hardest to give up if Jesus asked. Eternal life is not a prize for the good but a gift received by those who know they need it.
Cross-References:
Mark 10:18-19: "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God." Mark’s account of the same conversation.
Romans 3:20: "For through the law comes the knowledge of sin." The law shows our need.
Galatians 3:24: "So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." The law leads to Christ.
Conclusion: A sincere and successful ruler asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus pointed him to the goodness of God alone and to the commandments, and the ruler claimed to have kept them all. The conversation shows that outward obedience cannot give assurance; the next verse will reveal the one thing his heart still held on to.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible