- "No one is good—except God alone." Mark 10:18 (Jesus had been called good).
- "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone." Luke 18:19
- Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good." Matt 19:17
One of the themes Jesus teaches is that only God is good. Everyone else, including himself, is not in the same category. In the Amplified Bible "essentially and perfectly morally" good is used to highlight the connotation of the word good.
What if I disagree with Jesus?
I personally find this teaching hard to accept, because I want to put Jesus in the same category of goodness as God. After all Jesus had the divine nature of God within him. But here we have Mark and Luke showing us Jesus meant for this category to exclude himself, and he was very insistent about it.
Choices
I have several choices when I do not like an idea Jesus spoke. I can reject it, which doesn't sound like a very smart way to respond. Or I can open my mind and submit myself to the teaching. I will also continue to look for more verses which will explain why he excluded himself. Meanwhile, I'll ask the Holy Spirit to help me understand and accept that Jesus wants us to know that only God is good.
No comments:
Post a Comment