I think this question’s been answered well, but I wanted to add that I think this passage is very applicable to our time. It seems like a lot of people think Jesus was a good teacher and nothing more. In this passage, Jesus tells the man (and us) that if He is not God, then He cannot be a good teacher. I think it goes back to that idea that Jesus claimed to be God, so either He was telling the truth, lying, or insane. Either way, He can’t be just a good teacher. I believe that the idea of Jesus as a good teacher is so popular because it is in a way very comfortable. If Jesus is God, then we must actually give our lives to Him. If He is just a good teacher, we can take what we want from Him and ignore “messy” details like the Cross. In addition, in a society that holds tolerance as the highest virtue, calling Jesus a good teacher rather than explicitly rejecting Him makes people feel like they are being accepting and tolerant of Him, which makes them feel better about themselves. If we see Him only as a good teacher, He has no claim on us.
