The argument goes like this: ” Jesus himself denied being good, because only God is good – so Jesus himself denied to be God” [Quoted word for word from a critic].
Let’s look at the text:
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
It doesn’t say, “Me? I’m not good” as some try to make it say. Look at it again.
It says, “WHY do you call me good.”
Jesus was challenging him that if he affirmed that Jesus was “good” and “only God is good,” then what Jesus would say should have the authority of God.
It’s the same thing he did just a few chapters previous. He asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him (Mark 8:27-30).
Also here:
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-17).
It wasn’t that he didn’t know who he was. He wanted the disciples to engage with who he was. When they answered correctly, he affirmed that they did know his identity. But with this young rich man, he may have affirmed Jesus’ identity, but he didn’t want to submit.
The text verifies this is what Jesus was doing. There are multiple indicators.
1. The Immediate Context:
It didn’t mean that he didn’t know who he was. He was challenging him to recognize him for his deity. It was a common rhetorical way to provoke someone to think. The flow of the conversation affirms this as it was not a discussion over Christ’s goodness or lack thereof. It was the question of his obedience to a higher law than following all the rules.
2. The Point of the Text
The point of the text was the man’s refusal to lay it all down to follow the Lord. It was an idol in his life. We know this because twice Jesus said this:
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life (v. 29-30)
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? (v. 34-37)
3. Jesus is the payment for sins
Continuing in this chapter, Christ affirms his deity as the one gives eternal life and pays for the sins of mankind. Something only God can do:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”” (Mark 10:45).
This is an allusion to Psalm 49 which he would have been known. Especially as one who studied the words of God and he followed precisely.
Psalm 49 is directly about a rich man. [The applicable parts have been put in bold].
5Why should I fear when evil days come,
when wicked deceivers surround me—
6those who trust in their wealth
and boast of their great riches?
7No one can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for them—
8the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough—
9so that they should live on forever
and not see decay.
10For all can see that the wise die,
that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
leaving their wealth to others.
11Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had named lands after themselves.
12People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
they are like the beasts that perish.
13This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
14They are like sheep and are destined to die;
death will be their shepherd
(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).
Their forms will decay in the grave,
far from their princely mansions.
15But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
he will surely take me to himself.
16Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
when the splendor of their houses increases;
17for they will take nothing with them when they die,
their splendor will not descend with them.
18Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
and people praise you when you prosper—
19they will join those who have gone before them,
who will never again see the light of life.
20People who have wealth but lack understanding
are like the beasts that perish.
Do you see it? It says man cannot ransom another man. Only God can redeem someone’s life from the dead.
It is also clear that this is about the resurrection. Not just payment for someone’s sins. But a ransom that allows someone to live for forever.
Jesus says clearly in Mark 10 that he is that very ransom:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (v. 45).
As said multiple places in Scripture, it is Jesus who gives eternal life. And that was the original question of the young man.
“What must I do to be saved?”
Jesus said basically that he is the source of eternal life. But to follow him a person must lay down everything to follow him. It’s what the rich young ruler did not want as it would cost him too much.
4) Jesus says He is Good
Jesus plainly says he is good. Look at it in John.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:11-15).
Again, Jesus is not denying his goodness or that He is God. He is saying to the young man, if you are calling me good, then why don’t you lay it all down and follow me? I am the giver of eternal life (Mark 10:45).
Sadly, the rich man said no.
As do many others who do not understand that following Jesus means laying it all at his feet, taking up your cross and following him.
But what struck me most about the text?
Jesus saw what was in his heart. That this idol was huge.
Yet even in this, Jesus “loved him.”