Why did Jesus say...

[Lamb]

Mark 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
and ​

Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

Why did Jesus say this?​

 

[Andrew]

Probably because to say "good" when addressing someone is a loose and carnal way of speaking since no one is truly "good" but GOD, albeit Jesus IS good, He didn't want to be addressed as just another "good" person in that carnal sense so he pointed to "God" alone.

God=Good

 

[Josiah]

Mark 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.​

and ​

Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.​

​

Why did Jesus say this?​

Because it's true?



.

 

[Tigger]

I heard that it's normal for Jews especially rabbis to answer a question with a question to invoke thought.

 

[Andrew]

I heard that it's normal for Jews especially rabbis to answer a question with a question to invoke thought.

they really do and they never give a straight answer

 

[hedrick]

I believe there are two reasonable ways to understand it.

The traditional understanding is that Jesus was trying to get the man to realize that his experience of Jesus actually implied that Jesus was God.

Mainline (including a lot of recent Catholic) theology would say that Jesus and Paul consistently distinguished between Jesus and God, but that Christians looking back at Jesus in light of the resurrection realized that God was directly present in him, and in many ways he acted as God, so that he should be viewed as God's way of being present in human life, but still a human being.

Here’s a good presentation of the latter view, from the conservative end of modern theology: Jesus and the Identity of God - NTWrightPage

Here's the Anchor Bible's comment:

"(a) The question is intended to bring the man to perceive that Jesus was divine: “… that he may believe in the Son of God, not as a good master, but as the Good God” (Ambrose, De fide 2.1 and many patristic writers; cf. M.-J. Lagrange, L’Evangile selon Saint Marc [4th ed.; Paris: Gabalda, 1929] 264–265).

(b) Jesus rejects the epithet “good” from the questioner’s point of view and seeks to correct the magistrate’s flattery (so some patristic writers; see F. Spitta, “Jesus Weigerung,” 19);

(c) Jesus implicitly acknowledges his sinfulness. So G. Volkmar, Die Evangelien (Leipzig: Fues [R. Riesland], 1870) 489.

(d) The adj. agathos should be understood in the sense of “gracious, kind” (W. Wagner),

(e) Jesus is saying nothing about his own person, but directing the man’s attention to God and his will as the only prescription for pleasing him (B. B. Warfield, Christology and Criticism [New York: Oxford University, 1929] 139).

Most of these are subterfuges and one recognizes today that only the last is on the way to being the right interpretation.
...
Hence, if the magistrate recognizes any goodness in Jesus, he is being told by him to attribute it to its rightful source: “His [Jesus’] goodness is the goodness of God working in Him” (A. Plummer, The Gospel, 422)."

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). The Gospel according to Luke X–XXIV: introduction, translation, and notes (Vol. 28A, p. 1199). New Haven; London: Yale University Press. [extra newlines added for readability]

While I agree with Fitzmyer, I think it has implications for Christology that he is unwilling to pursue. Possibly as a Biblical commentator, that's not his job.

 

[Pedrito]

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Colossians 1:15:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature

Hebrews 1:3:
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…

John 14:9:
Jesus saith unto him, ... he that hath seen me hath seen the Father..

John 1:18:
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him

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Jesus was pointing out that were the speaker speaking honestly, and not merely using flattering words, that the speaker was acknowledging that Jesus was reflecting or projecting characteristics that were the preserve of Israel’s God. The speaker should therefore sit up and take notice of what Jesus said, and realise that Jesus had a special relationship with God.

Hebrews 1:2:
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...

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[Faithhopeandcharity]

I heard that it's normal for Jews especially rabbis to answer a question with a question to invoke thought.

Certainly labish, well put

 

[Faithhopeandcharity]

By nature none but God are Good
But by grace we are made good purification