September 12, 2014
Mark 10:17, 18
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
I have heard people say – people who don’t necessarily believe that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh – that Jesus was a good man! And He certainly was! There was and is never any better! But to say “He is good ” without saying “He is God ” is both dangerous and illogical!
It is dangerous because of what John wrote in I John 4:2 and 3:
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit
of Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the
world.
I surely do not want to be associated with the spirit of Antichrist! Revelation 20:14 and 15 says those who follow the Antichrist – the actual incarnation of the devil then, as well as his present spiritual rebellion against God now – will be “…cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Eternal hell awaits those do not hold “…that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh…” (I John 4:2), because such denial takes away His deity.
It is illogical because Jesus pointedly said He was God! In John 8:24 and 28, He twice stated that very fact: “…if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins….When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I m He….” In the KJV – as well as the New KJV, “He” is in italics, meaning it is an added word to help one understand the meaning of the text. Unfortunately, it actually muddies the waters! The text of the New American Bible – Saint Joseph’s Edition has it right – “You will surely die in your sins unless you come to believe that I AM….When you lift up the Son of Man, you will come to realize that I AM….”
Anyone familiar with the Old Testament can see where Jesus was going with this! When God confronted Moses in the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3, there is this famous interaction between the Lord and the man – verses 13-15:
Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me,
‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I
AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel,
‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall
say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This
is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.
This name, I AM – translated Jehovah in many Bible editions, and Yahweh in some – is so holy among pious Jews, that it may be written but never pronounced! In John 8:24 and 28, Jesus is claiming to be “The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob….” (See also John 1:1 through 4 and 14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3 and 8; and many other scriptures that show Jesus is God come in the flesh.)
Finally, to our scripture, Mark 10:17 and 18:
And as He [Jesus] was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before
Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is
good but One, that is, God.”
Of course, this is the beginning of the incident of The Rich Young Ruler who “…went away grieved, for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:22). He was complimenting Jesus for being good – and I’m sure that was his honest opinion. But the Lord was not going to let him get away with that! If Jesus was good, He was also God! For He claimed to be God, and someone good would not be good if he was a liar!
If Jesus is good, He is also God! What belief do you hold about the Lord Jesus Christ?