‘And a certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke tells us that the man was a ruler, either a ruler of the synagogue or someone in authority locally. He may even have been a member of the Sanhedrin (compare John 3:1). But he neither tells us that he was rich nor that he was young. The stress is all on his being a man of status faced up with the possibility of greater status, and missing out because he was rich.
‘Good teacher' was an unusual way of addressing a Rabbi. The adjective ‘good' was usually retained for speaking about God, although there are a number of examples in the Old Testament of men being called ‘good'. Never, however, as having been addressed as such. So either this man was very discerning, or he was using flattery. Or perhaps he was simply impressed by Jesus' pure goodness which shone out from Him in a way that made Him different from all others, and thus could not help what he said.
‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' This was the burning question of the day among pious Jews, how to ensure that they partook of the life of the age to come by being reckoned as good Israelites. He wanted to know what the standard was by which he could judge his and their acceptance.