And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

  • Mark 10:18 (KJV)

When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, he came with what seemed like a straightforward question about eternal life. But notice how he addressed Jesus: “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17) In that simple greeting lay an assumption that would become the foundation for one of Jesus’ most revealing responses.

The young man had spent his life accumulating wealth, status, religious observance. He was the epitome of someone who “had it all” by worldly standards. Yet something was missing, and he sensed that Jesus might have the key to acquiring this final piece: eternal life. But his approach revealed a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of goodness itself.

Redefining Good

Jesus’ response cuts straight to the heart of the matter: “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” At first glance, this might seem like humility or deflection. But Jesus is doing something far more profound - He’s establishing the true standard of goodness.

We live in a world where “good” has become a relative term. Like Absalom, who declared to the people that their matters were “good and right,” (2 Samuel 15:3) we often seek validation for our own actions. We want others to affirm that our feelings, thoughts, and deeds are good because such affirmation feels better than the echo of our own uncertain conscience.

But Jesus disrupts this comfortable relativism. He declares that goodness isn’t a human quality to be achieved or accumulated — it’s a divine attribute that belongs to God alone.

The Divine Revelation

Here’s where Jesus’ response becomes brilliantly strategic. By establishing that only God is good, He creates a logical framework that leads to an inescapable conclusion. If the young man truly believes Jesus is good (as his greeting suggests), and if only God is good, then what does that make Jesus?

This isn’t mere wordplay — it’s a gentle but firm correction of the young man’s entire worldview. Jesus is simultaneously:

  • Humbling human pride that seeks to earn or achieve goodness
  • Revealing His own divine nature
  • Establishing the true source of all that is good

The Impossibility of Self-Made Goodness

The rich young ruler had built his identity around his ability to keep the commandments, to accumulate wealth righteously, to be “good” by his own standards and society’s measures. But Jesus’ words shatter this foundation. If goodness belongs to God alone, then all human attempts at goodness are, at best, reflections of God’s character rather than self-generated virtue.

This doesn’t diminish the value of moral living or kind actions. Rather, it properly situates them within their true source. Every good thing we do, every moment of kindness, every act of love - these flow from God’s goodness working in and through us, not from some inherent human capacity for righteousness.

The Loving Correction

Notice the gentleness in Jesus’ approach. He doesn’t shame the young man for his assumption or belittle his achievements. Instead, He uses the man’s own words as a teaching moment. This is the pattern of divine love in meeting us where we are, using our own frameworks to reveal deeper truths, and lovingly correcting our misconceptions.

The tragedy of this story isn’t that the young man was wealthy or successful. It’s that he walked away rather than embracing the reorientation Jesus offered. He preferred his own definition of good to God’s definition, his own standard to the divine standard.

Living in Light of God’s Goodness

For us today, this passage challenges every assumption we make about our own goodness. It calls us to:

Acknowledge the Source: Recognise that any good in us flows from God’s character, not our own efforts or achievements.

Embrace Dependence: Rather than striving to be independently good, we can rest in our dependence on the One who is truly good.

Redefine Success: Success isn’t about accumulating enough good deeds or achievements to earn God’s favour - it’s about aligning ourselves with the goodness that flows from Him.

Worship Properly: When we encounter true goodness in Jesus, our response should be worship, not the casual familiarity of calling Him merely a “good teacher.”

The Heart of the Gospel

This brief exchange encapsulates the heart of the gospel message. We cannot earn our way to God through accumulated goodness because goodness itself belongs to God alone. Our only hope is to receive the goodness of Christ - His perfect life, His sacrificial death, His triumphant resurrection - as a gift rather than a wage.

The rich young ruler sought to add eternal life to his collection of achievements. But Jesus revealed that eternal life isn’t something we acquire through our goodness - it’s something we receive through God’s goodness extended to us in grace.

Reflection Questions

  • In what areas of your life are you tempted to rely on your own “goodness” rather than God’s?
  • How does recognising Jesus as the source of all goodness change your approach to moral living?
  • What would it look like to daily acknowledge your dependence on God’s goodness rather than your own efforts?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You are good, eternally good. Forgive us for the times we’ve tried to establish our own righteousness or create our own standards of goodness. Help us to see that every good thing in us flows from Your character. May we rest not in our own achievements but in Your perfect goodness credited to our account. Thank You that eternal life isn’t something we earn but something we receive through Your grace. Amen.