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Why is Jesus saying only God (the Father) is good?

zoidar

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I have been thinking about this recently. How are we to understand it when Jesus says: "Only God (the Father) is good? Well, you might say: "Jesus doesn't actually say 'the Father'", but when we look at that Gospels Jesus always refer to the Father when he says "God". :scratch:

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
— Mark 10:17-18
 
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d taylor

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Because Jesus is asking, because the man called Jesus good. So Jesus goes on to say only God is good. So if this man is recognizing Jesus as good, the man must also be recognizing Jesus is God.

Plus Jesus just states God.
 
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Josheb

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Why is Jesus saying only God (the Father) is good?
It's hyperbole used to point out the flaw in the man's inquiry. The implication is that because Jesus is good whatever answer he gives will be correct, but the question itself is indicative of the man's sinfulness. The rich young ruler's eventual claim he's followed the Law (when his report covers only the laws pertaining to other humans, and not the Creator) and the unstated assumption he can work or perform his way into eternal life are deeply flawed and indicative of his ignorance and depravity.

Philippians 2 is helpful here. Jesus could have claimed equality with God. If that was not really possible then the verse is founded on a flawed premise. Jesus could have considered equality with God something to be grasped (unlike Lucifer) but he chose not to do so, choosing instead a radically different alternative: the bondservant! Instead of equality (which would include goodness) he chose to be an indentured servant in the form of humanity (even though he had not sinned and did not owe any debt). Jesus existed in the form of God, but emptied himself, took on the form of a bondservant, and was found in appearance like a human. 2 Corinthians 5:21 states Jesus knew no sin (which would have qualified him as good in Mark 10) but God later made him to be sin for us. Jesus could not, therefore claim to be good (like God) without running the risk of self-adulation (which he'd decried elsewhere in the gospels) knowing he would soon be made the most sinful of all men by having all humanity's sins poured on him, the perfect blemish free sacrifice, the pascal lamb and scapegoat. The man in Mark 10"17 would not have understood any of what I just posted. He would have thought Jesus insane and walked away and even as Jesus' words traveled from Jesus' mouth through the man's ears into his brain they would not have been heard.

There's also the possibility the man was disingenuous and was appealing to something he did not truly believe was true (Jesus' goodness) since he was one who'd kept God's commandments since childhood. The man's comment was a red herring. This is revealed in the revelation of the man's stronghold (his wealth). Notice the juxtaposition of the two strong towers/cities in the following:

Proverbs 18:10-13
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own imagination. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor. He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.

Jesus went right to the heart of the issue (which was not his goodness)
 
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zoidar

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Because Jesus is asking, because the man called Jesus good. So Jesus goes on to say only God is good. So if this man is recognizing Jesus as good, the man must also be recognizing Jesus is God.

Plus Jesus just states God.
I have held this view before, but I think the problem is Jesus always refers to his Father when he says "God" in the Gospels. This place could be an exception, but I doubt it's correct so I'm looking for an alternative explanation.
 
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d taylor

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I have held this view before, but I think the problem is Jesus always refers to his Father when he says "God" in the Gospels. This place could be an exception, but I doubt it's correct so I'm looking for alternative explanations.
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Do you have an example, when i see Jesus using God. Jesus also uses Son showing that Jesus is speaking of The Father.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
 
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Reluctant Theologian

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I have held this view before, but I think the problem is Jesus always refers to his Father when he says "God" in the Gospels. This place could be an exception, but I doubt it's correct so I'm looking for an alternative explanation.
You're correct, with maybe one exception (see John 10:34-36 below). Both Yeshua and Paul define the 'one true God' to be the Father:

John 17:3
.. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent, ..​

1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (here Paul refers to the 'Shema' in Deuteronomy 6:4)
... we know ... there is no God but one,​
For although there may be many 'gods' and many 'lords' -​
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist,​
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.​

Ephesians 4:5-6
.. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.​

1 Thess 1:9-10
.. to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven ..​

Even in the TNK/OT you find YHWH is the God of the Messiah:

Micah 5:3/4-4/5 (about the Messiah)
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of YHWH,​
in the majesty of the name of YHWH his God.​

Yet; the word 'god' (elohim (Hebrew) / theos (Greek)) is also used for others than YHWH, Yeshua himself refers to that in John 10:34 (replying to the accusation of blasphemy). Yeshua quotes Psalm 82:6 and his reply clearly indicates He interprets the word 'elohim' there to refer to human beings:

John 10:34-36
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came —and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’​

Yeshua's statement supports the notion the word elohim/theos/god is broader in use/meaning than just a reference to the 'one true GOD' / the Father. That's why John 1:1c can state 'and the word was with god and god was the word' (capitals intentionally omitted to reflect the basic Greek and original word order).
 
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RandyPNW

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I have been thinking about this recently. How are we to understand it when Jesus says: "Only God (the Father) is good? Well, you might say: "Jesus doesn't actually say 'the Father'", but when we look at that Gospels Jesus always refer to the Father when he says "God". :scratch:

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
— Mark 10:17-18
I think Jesus knew he was God, and wanted the man to recognize who he was. If Jesus was properly recognized as "good," then obviously he was God!

Jesus did not want the man to see goodness as a strictly human work, but rather, as an attribute of God. If goodness was purely a human work, then anybody should be able to be virtuous completely apart from God.

But that is not true. That is not the way for man to be good. He is to live in the image of God via access to the Holy Spirit. And that access is assured [for eternity] via Jesus and the work he did on the cross.
 
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armchairscholar

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Your thoughtful reflection on Jesus' words in Mark's Gospel touches upon a mystery of our faith. When Jesus says "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone," He is not denying His own goodness or divinity. Rather, He is inviting us into a deeper understanding of goodness itself and our relationship with God the Father.

Remember, Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. His entire mission was to lead us to the Father. So when He redirects the young man's attention to God as the source of all goodness, He is fulfilling His purpose - pointing us toward the ultimate Good that is God.

This exchange also reveals Jesus' profound humility. Though fully divine, He emptied Himself to take on our humanity. In His human nature, He shows us how to live in complete dependence on and obedience to the Father.

Moreover, by challenging the man's use of "good," Jesus invites him - and us - to reflect more deeply. What do we mean when we call something or someone "good"? Are we recognizing the divine source of all goodness?

Let us see in this passage an invitation to seek true goodness - not as the world defines it, but as it flows from God's own nature. Let us strive to recognize God's goodness in all of creation, in our neighbors, and yes, most perfectly in Jesus Christ.

You're correct, with maybe one exception (see John 10:34-36 below). Both Yeshua and Paul define the 'one true God' to be the Father:

John 17:3
.. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent, ..​

1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (here Paul refers to the 'Shema' in Deuteronomy 6:4)
... we know ... there is no God but one,​
For although there may be many 'gods' and many 'lords' -​
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist,​
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.​

Ephesians 4:5-6
.. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.​

1 Thess 1:9-10
.. to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven ..​

Even in the TNK/OT you find YHWH is the God of the Messiah:

Micah 5:3/4-4/5 (about the Messiah)
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of YHWH,​
in the majesty of the name of YHWH his God.​

Yet; the word 'god' (elohim (Hebrew) / theos (Greek)) is also used for others than YHWH, Yeshua himself refers to that in John 10:34 (replying to the accusation of blasphemy). Yeshua quotes Psalm 82:6 and his reply clearly indicates He interprets the word 'elohim' there to refer to human beings:

John 10:34-36
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came —and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’​

Yeshua's statement supports the notion the word elohim/theos/god is broader in use/meaning than just a reference to the 'one true GOD' / the Father. That's why John 1:1c can state 'and the word was with god and god was the word' (capitals intentionally omitted to reflect the basic Greek and original word order).
 
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eleos1954

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I have been thinking about this recently. How are we to understand it when Jesus says: "Only God (the Father) is good? Well, you might say: "Jesus doesn't actually say 'the Father'", but when we look at that Gospels Jesus always refer to the Father when he says "God". :scratch:

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
— Mark 10:17-18
The Father and the son are both good. They both share the same principles/character of perfect goodness ... they are in total harmony with one another ... they are one ... separate persons but in total harmony.

God is love ...

Jesus fully partakes of the same divine nature as God the Father they are both good.

The Bible says Jesus is unique in both His person and His purpose. He wasn't just some spiritual individual during His time on earth; He was both God's Son (John 3:16) and God Himself—God in human flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Yes, He was fully man, but He was also fully God (Colossians 2:9).

It's interesting in this particular verse the word God is theos rather than eloheim

2316 theós (of unknown origin) – properly, God, the Creator and owner of all things (Jn 1:3; Gen 1 - 3)

However, we also know that God the Father (creator of all things) created through His son Jesus.

There is a perfect agreement between Father and Son in purpose and activity. This is part of the mystery of the Trinity. Jesus created and God created, but there is only One Creator, God — which implies that Jesus is God.
 
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The Liturgist

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Because Jesus is asking, because the man called Jesus good. So Jesus goes on to say only God is good. So if this man is recognizing Jesus as good, the man must also be recognizing Jesus is God.

Plus Jesus just states God.

That was well expressed.
 
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The Liturgist

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What do you Guys think of the idea that only the Father is good in the sense that everything that is good originate from the Father?

It violates the Nicene Creed and is therefore not Christian.
 
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David Lamb

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One can only be "good" if they can see the future. In a human body, Jesus could not see the future.
Why does one have to be able to see the future in order to be good? Are you saying that Jesus when He was here on earth was not perfectly good? If that is the case, He is no use as a Saviour, because He would have sins of His own that needed forgiveness. Is that really the sort of Jesus you believe in? The letter to the Hebrew Christians makes the sinlessness of Jesus crystal clear:

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15 NKJV)
 
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zoidar

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Is it dangerous to add something that's not in the text? It says what it says.
It's not about adding but understanding the meaning. If Jesus means the Father when he says "God" then that is how we should read it.
 
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Bob Crowley

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Christ was testing the rich yoing man to see if he realised who he was talking to.

In the same exchange Christ told him that to be perfect he needed to give up all his possession and follow Him. We know the rest of story - the young man's face fell and he left.

This led on to the passage about how hard it is for the rich to enter heaven.

But had the rich young man realised just Who Christ was, perhaps his response may have been different?

By deflecting attention away from Himself, Christ was testing the young man - what was his real motive?

Did he think Christ was God, or just a good man?
 
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zoidar

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Christ was testing the rich yoing man to see if he realised who he was talking to.

In the same exchange Christ told him that to be perfect he needed to give up all his possession and follow Him. We know the rest of story - the young man's face fell and he left.

This led on to the passage about how hard it is for the rich to enter heaven.

But had the rich young man realised just Who Christ was, perhaps his response may have been different?

By deflecting attention away from Himself, Christ was testing the young man - what was his real motive?

Did he think Christ was God, or just a good man?
Yes, that seems to be the common understanding, but if Jesus is referring to the Father that doesn't work.
 
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