Christ - a good man ?

Clearly no one who would consider himself to be a Christian (a follower of Christ) would think of Jesus as a bad man. However, many would regard Him as a good man and a great religious teacher, but very little else. However, Scripture tells us much more about Him, in particular, that He is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31).

What it is proposed here to do is to consider what Christ said to the ruler who came to Him and addressed Him as “Good teacher” (Luke 18:18). Christ replied saying: “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, God” (verse 19). What did Christ mean when He said this? Did he mean that He was not good? Did He mean to distinguish Himself from God? Or was it, as some would have it, that because the ruler did not address Him in a way that indicated that he regarded Him as God, He did not accept the form of address used?

It is undoubtedly true that when on earth Christ distinguished Himself from God his Father (e.g. John 8:40), and He effectively does so in the passage we are considering. However what is wrong with the ruler calling Christ Good ? Certainly it may have been flattery, though the Scripture does not actually say so. Further, there is certainly no evidence that the disciples or others used his form of address.

What are we then to learn from what Christ says ? He did not attribute goodness to Himself.. He was the conduit of it from God, as He said elsewhere: “The Father who abides in me, he does the works” (John 14:10). He gave God the credit. Again He said: “Many good works have I shewn you of my Father” (John 10:32). Note the words “of my Father”. Peter says of Christ that He went about “doing good, and healing all that were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). Note again the words “because God was with Him”. All that Christ did was an expression of God, the one who is good and doest good (Psalm 119:68).

Luke’s account is commented upon above. Mark’s account is similar (Mark 10:17 et seq.) and although the wording is a little different the sense is the same so far as our considerations are concerned. The wording of Matthew 19:16 et seq. is somewhat different, but has no significant effect on what has been