Only God is Good

“Why do you call me good?”
Mark 10:18 (NIV)

This week’s question is part of the “Rich Young Man” encounter. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I read biblical passages that I have read before I still end up with questions. That was the case as I read about this encounter between Jesus and the rich man. Questions like: Has this guy asked more than one “good teacher” this question? Or did he think he knew something about Jesus that set Jesus apart from the other teachers? What did this guy expect the answer to be? Why was his wealth more valuable than God? Let’s take a closer look at this encounter.

Jesus was just heading out to his next stop when this guy runs up to Him, falls on his knees before him and says: “Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Some commentaries indicate that the “good teacher” greeting was a common way for someone considered a teacher to be greeted. But did people fall on their knees before the other teachers? Jesus as is often his practice answers with a question and statement: “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God”. Did this guy know something, had he heard what people were saying about Jesus? Also, in his usual style Jesus doesn’t let this guy answer him, instead he keeps talking asking the man about some of the foundational laws in the Ten Commandments. The guy basically responds to Jesus by saying “Teacher, I have followed all the rules since I’ve been old enough to understand them. Jesus looks at him (I imagine with a slight smile, the kind of smile that says I see you, I care and I am about to speak truth to you). Jesus tells him you lack one thing – go sell everything you have and give the money to the poor – you have treasure in heaven, then come follow me. The “Good” teacher had just invited this guy to follow him… but the man’s face fell and he walked away sad. Why?

It appears this man, like many others of that time, was satisfied with just following the rules, even being proud of how well they followed them compared to others and who were also unwilling to completely surrender their lives to a Good God. There is a lot more to this story, so I encourage you to read Mark 10:17-31 to get the whole picture.

In some ways we have an advantage over the man in the story. Because we are looking back, we know who Jesus is – the incarnation of The Good God. But how many of us would still rather just follow the rules, rather than lay down our lives for what Jesus has to offer? He may not hear the Spirit say to sell everything, give the money away and follow Jesus. The willingness of our hearts to surrender absolutely everything to the Good God matters though.

Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – remember surrendering your whole self to the Good God, will result in more good than you can imagine right now.