Why Does Jesus Say, "No One Is Good Except God Alone"?
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There are always people in our lives that we look to and admire for their character, their financial savviness, or their service to others. We might see them as good – even perfect – the epitome of what we should all strive to become as followers of Christ.
But, as Jesus always does, He reminds us that this title isn’t legitimate for anyone but our heavenly Father. He even discussed this in Luke 18:19, when addressed by a ruler as “Good Teacher.”
“So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.’”
Jesus is letting us know that no one, not even the Savior Himself, is considered good because we are carnal beings subjected to our sinful whims. Even though Jesus was God in the flesh, He still pointed people back to the fact that His goodness came only from God, and He was only a vessel to make God’s goodness come alive to all.
What Is the Context of Luke 18?
Luke 18:19 is found within a plethora of valuable insight and lessons from Jesus that are regularly discussed in sermons and Bible studies.
Within Luke 18 is the parable of the persistent widow (18:1-8), the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9-14), Jesus sharing about how children would inherit the kingdom of God (18:15-17), that nothing was impossible for God to accomplish (18:24-30), Jesus predicting His own death and resurrection (18:31-34), and a blind man being given his sight (18:35-42).
What these stories share with us is not only Jesus’s profound ability to share wisdom through parables, but also who God’s children are, and that nothing man considered impossible was impossible for God.
The audience listening to these biblical truths were Jesus’ disciples, as well as anyone who desired to listen to Him preach the Good News, even the wealthy among the community. One such wealthy member was the rich young ruler asking Jesus the question which sparked Luke 18:19.
At the time, Jesus was traveling from town to town with His disciples, answering questions and discussing truths from the ancient teachings. Many of His listeners had never heard about these truths, and some may have had misguided ideas about them (such as the Pharisees). People didn’t realize the grasp sin had on their lives and were marveling at Jesus’s retelling of God’s love for them and His willingness to forgive them of their wayward actions.
They were learning about God redeeming them through Jesus, and saw Jesus perform miracles, such as healing the man of his blindness and proclaiming that God did it through Him.
Before Jesus addressed the notion of eternal life with the rich young ruler, He had just finished informing the disciples that although they felt little children shouldn’t be brought to His feet, God saw children as inheriting the kingdom. Children had as much right to God as adults, and unless one received the kingdom of God as a child, they would never receive it at all (Luke 18:17).
This conversation might have been what sparked the rich young ruler to ask Jesus, the “Good Teacher,” about inheriting eternal life (which also appear in Mark 10:17-18 and Matthew 19:16-17). Jesus’s reputation of being a teacher who was patient, kind, and loving may have encouraged the ruler to call Him good, probably in comparison to everyone else, especially those in the Sanhedrin.
However, the ruler soon learned that being “good” isn’t reflected through just your actions or what you are willing to be obedient to, but is more an impossible feat to achieve for humans born with sinful natures that separated them from God. The ruler soon learned the man he referred to as “Good Teacher” would show Him it was God, and God alone, that was good.
Why Do the Disciples Call Jesus Good?
Jesus referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10:11, reminding those listening that the good shepherd gave his life for his sheep and that He knew His sheep and was known by them as well, just as He and God knew each other (10:14-15).
His disciples referred to Jesus as the Messiah and Master, seeing Jesus as good for being God incarnate. Jesus even described what the disciples called Him in John 13:13, stating that they were correct in calling Him Lord and Teacher as He washed and dried their feet.
Did they see Jesus as good? They probably did, witnessing the miracles He was making happen around them and displaying a persona that exemplifies a good nature and spirit. However, Jesus pointed out in the exchange in Luke 18:19 that God alone was the only one who was eternally good.
Jesus’s mission on earth was to glorify God through what He did on the earth and through the grave to bring people back to God. Good in Jesus’s eyes was someone untouched by sin and unmoved by the powers of man. Though He was God incarnate, Jesus made sure everything that He did, said, and believed pointed everything back to God as the true One who made all possible.
Jesus had seen God face to face and knew He was good, while the disciples only saw Jesus in person and, hence, called Him good.
Is It True That "Only God Is Good"?
Some might argue that God can’t be the only “good” one, as there are lots of people in the world who embody many characteristics of Jesus, who is God in the flesh.
Yes, there are several good people in the world, but their “goodness” reminds us that there is a God showing them the way of goodness, instead of selfishness or manipulation. From the moment we take our first breath, we are born into a sin nature and a fallen world where right and wrong aren’t always set in stone.
We are also born with carnal natures that crave our goals and dreams to be fulfilled, whether or not those goals and dreams could be at the expense of others.
Is someone good all the time? The answer is no, as we are in constant battle between our godly natures and our sinful natures, over which nature will be paramount. For God, there is no battle because God can’t be swayed by the devil, society, His own children, or anyone.
People at times believe good means you always make others happy or always do the right thing, but Jesus wanted to direct people to see that though He was physically doing the miracles, the goodness came only from God. His goodness to others also came with lessons learned, responsibilities given, and the need to help others.
God Is Good, All the Time
Being good has become what many strive to achieve as Christians in the world today, seeing that goodness can be found in anyone who is kind, patient, and helpful.
However, when a rich young ruler decided to give Jesus the title of “Good Teacher” in Luke 18:19, he didn’t realize that it would become a teaching tool for all those present about who Jesus was in relation to God.
Yes, Jesus was God in the flesh, born on earth to share the Good News and die a painful death for our sins, only to be resurrected three days later. However, He told the ruler that God alone was good because everything they had witnessed Jesus do were the actions of God the Father through Him.
God is the One who is good all the time, even during challenging and uncertain times, because He is the one untouched by sin, able to make the impossible possible, and can bring good from any situation for the purposes we have in His eternal plan.
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