He's Not Good?

Jesus asked a rich young man a strange question in Mark 10:18 – “Why do you call me good. No one is good but God alone.” Wait, what? I thought He was God?

It started when a man ran up to Jesus, fell at His feet, and said, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” As out of place as something like this might be today, back in ancient times over 2,000 years ago, bibleref.com says it was quite common for lay people to ask a religious leader like a scribe, a Pharisee, or a rabbi what they must do to be “good.”

How do you define good?

While on the surface, the question may look like Jesus was denying His deity, my study guide in the Holman Christian Standard Bible points out that Jesus wasn’t denying that He was good. He was rejecting the flattery of the man and challenging him to consider what his concept of “good” was and his concept of Jesus.

In other words, Jesus wanted to know why the man was calling Him “good.” What’s the motivation here? “No one is good but God alone.” There was a question behind that statement: “Are you calling Me God?” Another question might be, “Are you prepared to listen and follow Me?”

A gentleman and biblical scholar named Monty Morris gave one of the best explanations on the verse that I’ve seen in my studies and kept it short and sweet on Quora: Jesus was making two points:

1. Don't call me good unless you're ready to call me God. (Jesus doesn’t accept being patronized.) He is not just a “good teacher.” He is God come to teach (and die for your sins).

2. God alone is good, and you're NOT.

The young man’s motives were not to call Jesus God. He wanted affirmation of having done all the right things to gain eternal life. Clearly, that wasn’t something Jesus was teaching. In fact, to test the young man’s commitment, He told the rich man to go home, sell everything he had, give it to the poor, come follow Him, and the man would have treasure in Heaven.

He didn’t do it as he loved his material wealth more than God and the promise of treasures in Heaven. He thought before he knelt down in front of Jesus that he was already good by the things he had done.

The definition of good is found in here

None of us are “good enough.” It’s why Jesus came to die for our sins, including everything we’ve ever done in the past or will do in the future. I want the sacrifice of Jesus to cover my sins when God looks at me after He calls me home.

Christianity is not about “doing this” or “not doing that.” We cannot keep rules perfectly. If you break one rule, you’re guilty of violating the whole Law. James 2:10 in the English Standard Version says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. The New International Version says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

You don’t have to live by a series of rules anymore. You live in a relationship with Jesus and wake up every day with hope. After all, 1 Corinthians 2:9 in the New King James Version says, “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

In other words, it’s better than we can imagine. And it gives us hope!