Why Do You Call Me Good?

Photo by Paul Zoetemeijer on Unsplash

There is an interesting scene in the Gospel of Mark, where a Rich Young Ruler approaches Jesus with an earnest question:

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 10:17-21.

Very often this story is taken as proof that Jesus DID NOT believe he was “God.”

The logic of this passage is often taken as follows:

1. Jesus claims that God alone is good.

2. Jesus is not God.

3. Therefore, it is wrong to call him good.

If you check out various YouTube videos, that is precisely the logic used to prove that Jesus DID NOT claim to be divine.

But it is a logic that is faulty because that is not how the passage works!

As I’ve argued in How God Became Jesus and Jesus the Eternal Son, what you have to remember about this passage is several things!

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