<p>19:20&nbsp;<em>The young man said to him: All these things have I observed from my youth-&nbsp;</em>The record stresses the incongruity and inappropriacy of the young man&rsquo;s self-righteousness: &ldquo;The&nbsp;<em>youth</em>&nbsp;answered, all these have I kept from my&nbsp;<em>youth</em>&nbsp;up&rdquo;. He was young- and he says that since a young man he had kept all the commands. Now the Lord doesn&rsquo;t lecture him about self-righteousness, nor does He point out that the young man is way over rating his own spirituality and obedience. Instead, the Master focuses on the positive- as if to say &lsquo;You are zealous for perfection? Great! So, sell what you have and give to the poor. Go on, rise up to the challenge!&rsquo;.</p>
<p><em>What do I still lack?</em>- Mk. 10:21 provides the Lord&rsquo;s answer: &ldquo;One thing you&nbsp;<em>lack</em>&nbsp;[s.w.]&rdquo;, but the &ldquo;one thing&rdquo; was to distribute his wealth and to follow Christ. The two things seem therefore related; it was the wealth which was stopping the following of Christ. The man had come to the Lord asking what great deed he must do to obtain eternal life, and so he was aware of his obedience to the commandments. He obviously felt that obedience to Mosaic law was not going to be the basis of eternal life, and he sensed that there was some great deed he must yet achieve. Therefore &ldquo;What do I still lack?&rdquo; shouldn&rsquo;t be read as an arrogant statement that he lacked nothing because he had been legally obedient. Rather is it a genuine question, seeking a concrete, clear and achievable answer.&nbsp;</p>
