In the Bible, Jesus was not denying His goodness or divinity when He said, “No one is good, except God alone” (Mark 10:18). Instead, He was challenging the rich young ruler, who had called Him “good teacher,” to think more deeply about what he meant by that term. Jesus wanted the young man to recognize that goodness ultimately comes from God and that he himself was not able to be truly good on his own.
Additionally, Jesus also modeled humility, even though He was fully God. By not exalting Himself as good, He was showing that He was submitted to the Father’s will and did not seek to draw attention to Himself. This is consistent with other passages in the Bible where Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man rather than the Son of God, emphasizing His humanity and His role as a servant rather than a ruler.
Therefore, Jesus’ response was not a denial of His divinity or goodness, but rather a way to challenge the rich young ruler to recognize the ultimate source of goodness and to model humility and submission to God’s will.
