Only God is good

[zunshynn]

Why does Jesus say "Why do you call me good? Only God is good" in Mark 10.18, when he's talking to the young man?

[Myles Domini]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='Feb 27 2006, 04:48 PM']Why does Jesus say "Why do you call me good? Only God is good" in Mark 10.18, when he's talking to the young man?
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[/quote]

[quote]Wherefore it goes on: “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but the One God.”

In saying which He does not exclude men from goodness, but from a comparison with the goodness of God.

Bede: But by this one God, Who is good, we must not only understand the Father, but also the Son, who says, “I am the good Shepherd;” [John 10:11] and also the Holy Ghost, because it is said, “The Father which is in heaven will give the good Spirit to them that ask him.” [Luke 11:13] For the One and Undivided Trinity itself, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is the Only and One good God. The Lord, therefore, does not deny Himself to be good, but implies that He is God; He does not deny that He is good Master, but He declares that no master is good but God.

Theophylact: Therefore the Lord intended by these words to raise the mind of the young man, so that he might know Him to be God. But He also implies another thing by these words, that when you have to converse with a man, you should not flatter him in your conversation, but look back upon God, the root and fount of goodness, and do honour to Him.

--St Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea, Mk 10:18[/quote]

The Fathers, the Fathers, always the Fathers

Edited February 27, 2006 by Myles

[Cam42]

Somebody went to Mass today.....

[phatcatholic]

from the Navarre commentary:[list][b]17-18.[/b] As Matthew 19:16 makes clear, the young man approaches Jesus as an acknowledged teacher of the spiritual life, in the hope that He will guide him towards eternal life. It is not that Christ rejects the praise He is offered: He wants to show the depth of the young man's words: He is good, not because He is a good man but because He is God, who is Goodness Itself. So, the young man has spoken the truth, but he has not gone far enough. Hence the enigmatic nature of Jesus' reply and its profundity. The young man's approach is upright but too human; Jesus tries to get him to see things from an entirely supernatural point of view. If this man is to really attain eternal life he must see in Christ not just a good master but the divine Savior, the only Master, the only one who, because He is God, is Goodness Itself. Cf. note on Mt. 19:16-22.
[/list]essentially the logic works like this:

--the man acknowledges Jesus' goodness (as seen in his wisdom)
--only God is good in the ultimate sense
--if any other things are good it is b/c they participate in this goodness
--thus Jesus is good either b/c he is God or b/c he participates in God's goodness

when jesus poses the question, "why do u say i am good?" it is not to deny that he is good, but to inquire as to what it is that the man sees in Jesus that compels him to think Jesus is good. he is basically saying, "why in fact did you say that i am good? what is your reason?" we know from context that the man thinks Jesus is good b/c of Jesus' wisdom (thus, b/c he participates in the goodness of God), so in questioning this reasoning, Jesus is implying that the alternative is better: Jesus is good b/c he is God.

i hope that makes sense

pax christi,
phatcatholic