“And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.’” – Mark 10:18
What do people actually mean when they say something positive, yet vague, about Jesus? That’s what Jesus is pushing back on here. A man came and called Him a good teacher. What did he actually mean by that? Was it mere flattery? Or did he mean something deeper? When Jesus says only God is good, He’s asking the man, “Do you actually mean that I am God come in the flesh or are you just being polite?”
In our own time, many people say nice things about Jesus. They’ll praise His teaching, His character, His radicalness, His boldness in calling out hypocrisy, or His moral example. But what do they really mean by that???
– To praise Jesus as a radical without realizing that He was calling people to radical holiness and obedience to God’s unchanging will and standard utterly misses the point. In offering this praise, are they prepared to radically obey Jesus’s commands? If not, then He clearly isn’t their kind of radical.
– To praise Jesus as a good teacher without acknowledging that He clearly taught He was God on earth misses the point. In offering this praise, are they prepared to worship Jesus as God? If not, then He must have actually been a terrible teacher in their eyes.
– To praise His moral example without embracing that same morality utterly misses the point. In offering this praise, are they prepared to embrace His example and instruction on matters of marriage, divorce, compassion, and care for the vulnerable? If not, then He would actually have to be immoral in their eyes.
You get the idea…. To praise Jesus for some aspect of His life and ministry without embracing all of Who He is utterly misses the point. Indeed, it’s logically contradictory. If you, or someone you know, is praising part of Jesus, tug on that thread. What’s meant by that praise? Do they live as if they believed that praise? If praise of any sort is offered for Jesus, the only conclusion that actually makes sense of it is to fully worship Jesus as Lord, the Risen Savior, and God incarnate. #FollowJesus