Why did Jesus say this?

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Stella_Matutina

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Mark 10:18
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

He is God though…

:doh2:
 
He was testing the man.

Notice, the man didn’t call him “Good” the next time he addressed him? Some Unitarians use this verse to prove that Jesus is not God, but when the whole story is done in context, the opposite is true!

I’ll dig up some more on this shortly.
 
OK, here’s something I worked up a few months ago.
Next we’ll go to a story we’re all familiar with in Chapter 10, verses 17-18 - As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. This is a rather odd response, isn’t it? Now, some of our Unitarian brethren use this passage to prove that Jesus is not God, even admitting it Himself. Little do they realize that Jesus is going to use this premise to show that He truly IS God. We know from the rest of the story that this young man is wealthy. But he knows something is missing.
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What is he seeking? Something more – Eternal life. Jesus, recognizing this, is sort of testing this man’s faith in Him, which is why He asks him, “Why do you call me good?” Then Jesus says, “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.’" He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Mark 10:19-21)
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How does the youth respond to Jesus’ query? He responds “Teacher”, not “Good Teacher”. The man realizes Jesus is special, but the partial blindness is still there. So Jesus goes through a litany of the commandments and the young man verifies that he keeps these commandments. Now are these all of the 10 commandments? No, the first three are missing. What are these missing commandments related to? God, or Yahweh. You shall love the Lord your God. Honor the Sabbath. Do not use the name of the Lord in vain. Jewish tradition tells us that Moses had two tablets, right? But how were the commandments grouped? Few people realize that tradition teaches that on the first tablet were those commandments that dealt with God, the first three. The second tablet dealt with your neighbors, the remaining seven. Thus they were grouped into “Love of God” and “Love of Neighbor”. We may recognize Jesus’ alluding to these groupings (Love of God and Love of Neighbor) in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 22. When He is asked, “Master, what is the greatest commandment”, what does Jesus reply? “He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
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So Jesus tells the young man, “You’re almost there. All you have to do is give up your worldly possessions and follow me. You see, “follow me” addresses the first and the greatest commandment, “Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is where Jesus is telling the young man, you’ve got the “love your neighbors” part down. Now, you just need to “love the Lord your God”. How is he to do that? By selling everything and following Jesus. So, on the surface, this story that many think deals with Jesus denying He is God, actually affirms that Jesus is God.
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Thank you for your reply!

First let me say that I know that Jesus is God and I would die to that fact.

But could someone interpret your explanation as saying that Jesus was challenging the man to love God by asking him to follow Jesus- but that could be said of any prophet. Prophets challenge us to follow what they are saying about God.

?
 
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”
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‘Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself and became as all men are even to accepting death death on a cross’. Phil 2: 6-11

Jesus was humbler yet even to accepting death, death on a cross’.

It was His humility from which He spoke.

As God He is as pure as His Father 🙂
 
Stella_Matutina said:
Mark 10:18
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

He is God though…

:doh2:
Click to expand...
I always understod it as Jesus was asking the man if he recognized Him as God, much like He asked his disciples “who do you say I am?”

It could have two possibilities. The first, I think the man who called Him good was being deferential much as we say sir, or thank you. The second, as stated above- did the man recognze who He was? Demons recognized Him- so did many others.

In either case, both are correct.
 
Stella_Matutina said:
Thank you for your reply!

First let me say that I know that Jesus is God and I would die to that fact.

But could someone interpret your explanation as saying that Jesus was challenging the man to love God by asking him to follow Jesus- but that could be said of any prophet. Prophets challenge us to follow what they are saying about God.

?
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OK, Remember there are two central commandments, right?

Love of God and Love of Neighbor.

The young man shows that he’s got the “Love of Neighbor” part down, and Jesus seems to agree.
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him …
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****Then Jesus tells him how to take care of the “Love of God” commandment.

How?
"You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me*.*"
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A good ambiguous question.

I did a google search on the verse after looking it up in a couple of my home bibles.

All of the comments are all over the map on this verse.

One of the footnote comments points out that the man did not know who Jesus was. That’s why Jesus digresses with a question to the man’s question.

Some of the comments focus on the idea of what we must DO to inherit eternal life, proving that salvation is not by faith alone but by works.

So, there’s the idea that the man did not know God, and Jesus gave him a way to discover God by selling all his goods, etc.

And, then, some expand the context to point out that Jesus was teaching how hard it was for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

How wonderful scripture is that comes to us with so many levels of meaning, not to confuse, but to teach us.
 
Stella_Matutina said:
Mark 10:18
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”
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My thoughts:

**1. The man apparently did not publicly show that he recognized that Jesus is the Son of God. **
Mark 10:17 “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Note that the man calls Jesus “teacher”. When the man asked Jesus about how to have eternal life was the man thinking that Jesus is the Son of God? Apparently not, apparently the man merely considered Jesus to be an advanced rabbi. Also consider Matthew 23:8, “As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.”

2. Only God can lead someone to eternal life.
What did the man ask Jesus? He asked how to have eternal life? Only God alone can lead to eternal life. Does the man think that a rabbi who is not God can lead him to eternal life? Therefore Jesus is calling the man to consider this.

3. Jesus answers the mans question and therefore shows that He alone can lead us to eternal life and that He alone is God.
By answering the man’s question including saying “…follow me.”, Jesus shows that He is God. Only God can lead someone to eternal life. Jesus first asks “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” and then answers a question that only God can answer. Therefore Jesus has called the man to recognize who He is!

By doing this, I think Jesus also called the onlookers to recognize who He is! Note that Peter had (apparently previously) recognized that Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew 16:16
 
Coder said:
Yes, you are right about this.

Jesus is actually calling people to recognize who He is and that He alone is the One who can lead us to eternal life!
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Amen!!!

When you look at the whole story, you see that it is sandwiched between two healings of blind men. When you see this, you often see that the “meat” in between is related to the two “breads”.

In the first healing, it takes two “tries” to heal the blind man. This shows a gradual healing. I think the young rich man, who obviously realizes that Jesus is a great man, but doesn’t understand completely, is still partially blind.

I think the lesson for us is that we don’t always convert instantaneously. Sometimes (as in the case of “moi”) it’s a gradual process.
 
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