"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. (Mark 10:18)
Jesus’ answer to the question of the person who asked about eternal life begins with the concept of goodness. Jesus first declines the title ‘good teacher’. Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone.” I have a little wonder why Jesus said like this. Jesus is the son of God and has the oneness with God in true nature. He exists beyond what is good. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the Messiah. Then why did he say, “No one is good except God alone.” Here I would like to simply point out two important points which support the reason of Jesus’ reply.
First, in those days Hellenism and Judaism talked about God’s goodness. The goodness indicates God’s exclusive nature. Jesus categorically divides himself from God by saying, “No one is good except God alone”. He sees God as the object to which he should address. So he called the father “Abba father”. He absolutely obeyed to that Abba father with the remarkable total obedience even to die on the cross, and by the very father he was raised from the dead after three days. A division between Jesus and God is very important in understanding the true concept of trinity. The incidence of incarnation can be realized under this condition.
Second, if we want to understand the meaning of ‘God is good’, a deeper understanding of being good is highly essential. It does not mean a mere benign or kindhearted quality. It is a divine nature. This divine attribute is quite different from that of human, a mere creature. To be the good, it demands certain cognition which is essential to earn it. It is crystal clear from our daily life. We cannot practice virtue for we do not know what is right and wrong nor do we know what result comes out our activity. The quality of being good is a rare and exclusive attribute of God.
Jesus’ answer to the question of the person who asked about eternal life begins with the concept of goodness. Jesus first declines the title ‘good teacher’. Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone.” I have a little wonder why Jesus said like this. Jesus is the son of God and has the oneness with God in true nature. He exists beyond what is good. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the Messiah. Then why did he say, “No one is good except God alone.” Here I would like to simply point out two important points which support the reason of Jesus’ reply.
First, in those days Hellenism and Judaism talked about God’s goodness. The goodness indicates God’s exclusive nature. Jesus categorically divides himself from God by saying, “No one is good except God alone”. He sees God as the object to which he should address. So he called the father “Abba father”. He absolutely obeyed to that Abba father with the remarkable total obedience even to die on the cross, and by the very father he was raised from the dead after three days. A division between Jesus and God is very important in understanding the true concept of trinity. The incidence of incarnation can be realized under this condition.
Second, if we want to understand the meaning of ‘God is good’, a deeper understanding of being good is highly essential. It does not mean a mere benign or kindhearted quality. It is a divine nature. This divine attribute is quite different from that of human, a mere creature. To be the good, it demands certain cognition which is essential to earn it. It is crystal clear from our daily life. We cannot practice virtue for we do not know what is right and wrong nor do we know what result comes out our activity. The quality of being good is a rare and exclusive attribute of God.
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