A rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to obtain eternal life. Luke 18:18 identifies him as a ruler. Matthew presented him as a rather typical obsessive-compulsive personality who probably never knew when to stop working. [source][source][source]
The term "eternal life" occurs here for the first time in Matthew"s Gospel (cf. Daniel 12:2, LXX). However the concept of eternal life occurs in Matthew 7:14. Eternal life is life that continues forever in God"s presence as opposed to eternal damnation apart from God"s presence ( Matthew 7:13; cf. Matthew 25:46). [source][source][source]
The young man"s idea of how one obtains eternal life was far from what Jesus had been preaching and even recently illustrating ( Matthew 19:13-15). He demonstrated the antithesis of childlike faith and humility. He thought one had to perform some particular act of righteousness in addition to keeping the Mosaic Law ( Matthew 19:20). He wanted Jesus to tell him what that act was. He was a performance-oriented person. [source][source][source]
Jesus" question in Matthew 19:17 did not imply that He was unable to answer the young man"s question or that He was not good enough to give an answer. [1] It implied that His questioner had an improper understanding of goodness. Jesus went on to explain that only God is good enough to obtain eternal life by performing some good deed. No one else is good enough to gain it that way. Jesus did not discuss His own relationship to God here. However, Jesus implied that He was God or at least spoke for God. The young man had asked Jesus questions about goodness that only God could adequately answer. [source][source][source]
The last part of Matthew 19:17 does not mean that Jesus believed a person can earn eternal life by obeying God"s commandments. Obedience to God"s commandments is a good preparation for entering into life. However obedience alone will not do. [source][source][source]