Mark 10:18

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) Why callest thou me good?—Our Lord’s question is, in St. Mark’s report, in harmony with that of the seeker after life eternal. Its obvious drift was to force him back upon the conditions of absolute goodness, to make him ask himself how far, and under what conditions, that word might be used relatively of any child of man.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:17-22 This young ruler showed great earnestness. He asked what he should do now, that he might be happy for ever. Most ask for good to be had in this world; any good, Ps 4:6; he asks for good to be done in this world, in order to enjoy the greatest good in the other world. Christ encouraged this address by assisting his faith, and by directing his practice. But here is a sorrowful parting between Jesus and this young man. He asks Christ what he shall do more than he has done, to obtain eternal life; and Christ puts it to him, whether he has indeed that firm belief of, and that high value for eternal life which he seems to have. Is he willing to bear a present cross, in expectation of future crown? The young man was sorry he could not be a follower of Christ upon easier terms; that he could not lay hold on eternal life, and keep hold of his worldly possessions too. He went away grieved. See Mt 6:24, Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage illustrated in the notes at Matthew 19:16-30.

Mark 10:17

Gone forth - From the place where he had been teaching.

Into the way - Into the road or path on his journey.

Running - Thus showing the intensity with which he desired to know the way of life. Zeal to know the way to be saved is proper, nor is it possible that it should be too intense if well directed. Nothing else is so important, and nothing demands, therefore, so much effort and haste.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mr 10:17-31. The Rich Young Ruler. ( = Mt 19:16-30; Lu 18:18-30).

See on [1473]Lu 18:18-30.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That is, originally good, and supremely good, or perfectly good. Herein our Saviour doth not deny himself to be God, but checked him who did not believe him such, yet called him God.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Jesus said unto him,.... The same as in Mat_. 19:17, See Gill on Matthew 19:17.

Why callest thou me good? This is said, not as denying that he was good, or as being angry with him for calling him so, but in order to lead this young man to a true knowledge of him, and his goodness, and even of his proper deity:

there is none good, but one, that is, God; some render it, "but one God", as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and so the words are a proof of the unity of the divine being, and agree with Deuteronomy 6:4, but are not to be understood to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, who, with the Father, are the one God: nor do these words at all militate against the deity of Christ, or prove that he is not God, as the Jew objects (a); seeing this is not to be understood of the person of the Father, in opposition to the Son and Spirit, who are equally good: nor does Christ, in these words, deny himself to be God, but rather tacitly suggests it; since he is good in the same sense in which God is good: in Matthew it is added, "but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments", Matthew 19:17, this Christ said not as his sense, that the way to eternal life lies in keeping the commandments of the law; but he speaks in the language of the Pharisees, and of this man; and his view is, to bring him to a sense of the impossibility of obtaining eternal life by these things, as the sequel shows: wherefore the above Jew (b) has no reason to confront the followers of Jesus with this passage, as if it was a concession of his, that it is impossible any should be saved without keeping the commands of the law of Moses.

(a) R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 19. p. 408. (b) Ib.

Geneva Study Bible

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

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 10:18. τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν: on the import of this question vide notes on Mt.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. Why callest thou me good?] The emphasis is on the “why.” “Dost thou know what thou meanest, when thou givest Me this appellation?” If we combine the question and rejoinder as given by St Matthew and St Luke it would seem to have run, Why askest thou Me about the good? and why callest thou Me good? None is good save One, God. Our Lord does not decline the appellation “good.” He repels it only in the superficial sense of the questioner, who regarded Him merely as a “good Rabbi.”

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 10:18. Εἶπεν, He said) The Lord replies, I. To the remarkable title which the young man had addressed to Him: II. To the question which he proposed.—τί Με λέγεις ἀγαθὸν; why callest thou Me good?) There were many things in Jesus, viewing Him merely externally, by reason of which the ignorant would not form the best opinion concerning Him: John 1:47; Matthew 11:6; Matthew 11:19; Isaiah 53:2, etc. Moreover also He did not rest on Himself, but ever referred Himself wholly to the Father. He acted the part of a traveller and a pilgrim in the world; and in that condition, in which the Psalms describe Him as wretched and needy, He was ever aiming towards the eternal good and the eternal joy, concerning which this youth was enquiring. Psalm 16:2; Psalm 16:5, etc.: My goodness [extendeth not to thee, Engl. V.] is not independent of thee. Comp. John 14:28; John 17:5; Hebrews 5:8-9; Hebrews 9:12. He did not “know Himself according to the flesh;” as Augustine preaches [distinctly states], l. i. de Doctr. Christ., c. 34. For good, ἀγαθὸς, properly applies to one blessed.[12] The young man was seeking with [by application to] Jesus happiness, in a too pure [unalloyed] sense. Jesus informs Him that ne will not find this with Him: Comp. Luke 9:57, etc. Nevertheless He does not say, I am not good; but, Why dost thou call Me good? Just as in Matthew 22:43, He does not deny, that He, the Son of David, is at one and the same time also the Lord of David. God is good: there is no goodness without Godhead. The young man perceived in Jesus the presence of goodness in some degree otherwise he would not have applied to Him: but he did not perceive it in its full extent; otherwise he would not have gone back from Him. Much less did he perceive [recognise] His Godhead. Wherefore Jesus does not accept from Him the title of goodness without the title of Godhead (Comp. the “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord,” Luke 6:46): and thereby vindicates the honour of the Father, with whom He is one. See John 5:19. At the same time [He darts causes to enter] a ray of His omniscience into the heart of this young man, and shows that the young man has not as yet the knowledge concerning Himself, Jesus Christ, worthy of so exalted a title, which otherwise is altogether appropriate to Him. Wherefore He does not say, There is none good save one, that is, My Father; but, There is none good save one, that is, God. Often our Lord proportioned [qualified] His words to the capacity of those who questioned Him, John 4:22. So a warlike commander, of noble birth, might answer to a person, who Knew not his noble birth, though knowing the fact of his a being commander, Why do you call me, a gracious lord? Jesus manifested His goodness to the disciples, Luke 10:23; Romans 14:16.

[12] Beatum, a term appropriate in the full sense only to God.—ED, and TRANSL.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - Why callest thou me good? According to the best authorities, the words in St. Matthew (Matthew 21:17) run thus: "Why askest thou me concerning that which is good? One there is who is good." The word "good" is the pivot on which our Lord's answer turns, both in St. Matthew and here. The question is doubtless put to test the young ruler's faith. If, as may be supposed, the young man used the term, "good Master," as a mere conventional expression, it was not the proper epithet to apply to our Lord, who at once transfers the praise and the goodness to God, that he might teach us to do the same. This ruler, by his mode of accosting our Lord, showed that he had not as yet a right faith in him - that he did not believe in his Godhead. Our Lord, therefore, desired to rouse him and lift him up to a higher faith. He seems to say to him, "If you call me good, believe that I am God; for no one is good, intrinsically good, but God. God alone is essentially good, and wise, and powerful, and holy. It is from him that angels and men derive a few drops, or rather some faint adumbration, of his goodness. There is none essentially, entirely, absolutely good but one, that is, God. Therefore seek after him, love him, imitate him. He alone can satisfy your longing desires, as in this life with his grace, so in the life to come with his glory; yea, with himself. For in heaven he manifested himself as the supreme good, to be tasted and enjoyed by the blessed for ever." Mark 10:18

Vincent's Word Studies

Why callest thou, etc

Compare Matthew 19:17. The renderings of the A. V. and Rev. here are correct. There is no change of reading as in Matthew, where the text was altered to conform it to Mark and Luke.