Mark 10:17

And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

THE INTERVIEW WITH THE RICH YOUNG RULER

This is a picture of youth at its glorious best. The subject before the Lord was presented as a rich man by all three synoptics; but Matthew (Matthew 19:22) added the detail concerning his youth, and Luke supplied the information that he was a ruler (Luke 18:18). These "matchless touches" were not supplied by the so-called "original" gospel; and they are another of the hundreds of examples proving the composite nature of the gospels. The rich young ruler was a lovable and beautiful character; willing to brave the scorn of the ruling class to which he belonged, he cast himself at the feet of Jesus; and, in sacred writ, there is hardly a more thrilling picture than the opening scene here. How pathetic it is that nothing was to come of it (presumably)!

Good Teacher ... McMillan thought that "the young man's words consist only of conventional flattery";[21] but Cranfield was of the opinion that:

There is little justification for regarding this as a "somewhat obsequious piece of conventional flattery ... from the unreality of which our Lord recoiled." ... His use of the epithet is surely sincere.[22]

What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ...? For the answer Jesus gave to this question, see under Mark 10:19 below. The question itself is the most important that ever engaged human attention, and the presence of such a query in the heart of the young man indicated true concern in his life for things of eternal value.

[21] Earle McMillan, The Gospel according to Mark (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, 1973), p. 125.

[22] C. E. B. Cranfield, op cit., p. 326.