He said unto him, Which? Jesus said,
You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
All Commentaries on Matthew 19:18 Go To Matthew 19
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Note how prepared the young man is to obey the commandments. For he says, “What must I do to have eternal life?” He seems ready to do what he would be told. If his purpose had been to put Jesus to a test, the Evangelist would have given some indication of this as he does in other cases, for instance, in the case of the lawyer. If the young man had remained silent or been deceptive, Jesus would have easily exposed that and brought it into the open. If the young man had come to test him, he would not have retreated downcast at what he heard. This never happened to any of the Pharisees. When refuted they were all the more angry. This man was not angry. He went away in sorrow, which is no little signal that he did not come to him with evil intent. But he did come with too weak a will. Truly he did desire life but was held in the grip of a serious moral infirmity. When therefore Christ said, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments,” he said “Which?” not putting him to the test—far from it—but because he thought that there were some other ones beside those in the law which could bring him life. So he seems to be quite earnest. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
