A “certain ruler” came to Jesus as he approached the entrance to Jericho (35, 19:1). He was a ruler (18), most likely Jericho’s synagogue ruler (8:41 is Capernaum’s synagogue ruler). He certainly had the qualifications. He kept the commandments (19) probably including the extra rules created by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, he was wealthy (23), and the disciples recognized his post from the unique religious garbs that synagogue rulers wore (26).
The rich young good guy went out to Jesus to ask him a question that must have troubled his soul for some time. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” he asked (18). The question of eternity is asked by all, for as Solomon wrote, “He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiasties 3:11)
Jesus mentiones eternal life (aka everlasting life) many times in this teaching (Matthew 18:8, 19:16, 29, 25:46; Mark 10:17, 30; Luke 10:25; John 3:15-16, 36, 4:14, 36, 5:24, 39, 6:24, 40, 47, 54, 68, 10:28, 12:25, 50, 17:2-3). The Apostle John records it the most, often taken the place of the term “kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven)” used in the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) which treat the following expressions as synonymous (only looking at this passage): 1) eternal life, 2) entering the kingdom of heaven (24-25, 29; Matthew 19:23; Mark 10:24), 3) being saved (26; Matthew 19:25; Mark 10:26), 4) age to come (30; Mark 10:30), and 5) at the renewal of all things (Matthew 19:28).
Jesus answered the man by citing half the Ten Commandments, the ones that deal with interaction with others. He did not cite the ones that deal with interaction with God. Before Jesus quoted from Exodus 20:12-15 and Deuteronomy 5:16-20 he asked an interesting question and made an interesting comment about being good. The reason was that the ruler, like many, had mistakenly believed in salvation in terms of righteousness through good works. Jesus had to correct this misunderstanding first before answering the question more fully.
