“All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”
Parallel translations
- WEB The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
- KJV The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
- NKJV The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
- NASB The young man *said to Him, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?”
- NLT “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The young man claims he has kept all these commands yet senses he still lacks something. His confidence and his unease together reveal his real spiritual condition.
Overview
The man's claim to have kept the commandments shows a shallow understanding of the law as outward acts only. Yet his lingering question—'What do I still lack?'—betrays an awareness that something is missing. Jesus will use this opening to expose the idol that rules his heart, showing that self-righteous effort cannot satisfy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gal 3:24So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
- Mark 10:20–21“Teacher,” he replied, “all these I have kept from my youth.”
- Phil 3:6as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
- John 8:7When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
- Luke 18:21–22“All these I have kept from my youth,” he said.
- Rom 7:9Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
- Luke 15:29But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
- Luke 15:7In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.
- Luke 18:11–12The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Rom 3:19–23Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 19:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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