16Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"
17So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
18He said to Him, "Which ones?"
Jesus said, ""You shall not murder,' "You shall not commit adultery,' "You shall not steal,' "You shall not bear false witness,' 19"Honor your father and your mother,' and, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'
20The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"
21Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
There are many footnotes on this text in the Bible Gateway where I copied this scripture from. It appears that the NU Text has quite a few differences. These difference do change the meaning somewhat. Here is the above text with the changes made to match what it says in the NU Text:
| 16Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" 17So He said to him, "Why do you ask Me about what is good? There is One who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." 18He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, ""You shall not murder,' "You shall not commit adultery,' "You shall not steal,' "You shall not bear false witness,' 19"Honor your father and your mother,' and, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."' 20The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept. What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. |
The first version of this text has such a strong discussion on what is good: "Good Teacher", "what good thing shall I do", "Why do you call me good", "No one is good but One". Do we even recognize good when we see it? This man referred to Jesus as Good Teacher, yet Jesus seemed to say even He should not be referred to as good, as God is the only One who is truly good.
The second version of this text takes the discussion away from just what is good, but lets the emphasis be on what we must do to have eternal life.
We all want to be good. But how can we be good enough? Both versions of this text show this man asking Jesus what He must do to be good enough. In both, Jesus answers that the only good things we must do is keep the commandments. But it is the man's view that that does not seem to be good enough. What more can he do?
What more can we do? If we keep the commandments, there is still that feeling that that is not enough. There must be more we can do. Yes, there is much more that we can do to become a better person. There is much more good that we can do in this world. But it is impossible for us to become completely good. Only God is truly good.
I used to see this text as a statement that Jesus' answer to what we must do to have eternal life is to keep the commandments and to give everything we have to the poor and to follow Jesus. But as I read it now, I think Jesus is saying that all we must do is keep the commandments. Not so we can be good enough, but because God is good. Does that still leave you feeling like there should be more good that you can do? If so, Jesus says that if you want to strive for perfection, sell everything you have, give to the poor, and follow Him. Do this, not so you will have treasure in heaven, but because you will have treasure in heaven.
Jesus said if you want to be perfect you will do these things. Are we to try to be perfect? Does He expect any of us to be perfect? I don't think so, because He just said that only One, God, is truly good. None of us can ever be perfect. We will never be good enough. But God is good. But to help our feeling of what more can we do, we should all try to do perfect things to the glory of God. And Jesus tells us what those perfect things are.
I like to think of this story as not quite finished. Sure, the man went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. But that doesn't mean that he didn't do as Jesus said. Parting with your greatest possessions is a sorrowful thing. Though the joy found in giving to the poor and freedom in following Jesus will make up for it. I wonder if this man didn't take this next step.