GOOD TEACHER

"As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. 'Good teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'

'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’'

'Teacher,' he declared, 'all these I have kept since I was a boy.'
Jesus looked at him and loved him. 'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'
 

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!'" - Mark 10:17-23

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Notice that the man who ran up and fell on his knees before Jesus called Him - "Good Teacher". Then after Jesus addressed him, the man simply called Jesus - "teacher". The man replied, 'Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.' Just in the absence of the title "Good" and declaration of keeping all the laws Jesus listed since youth, you could tell the man's view of Jesus and answer he sought to begin with was dwindling fast because something else was required.

Almost as if to see if the man knew the answer to his own question, Jesus asked - "Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God alone." After Jesus told the man of the commandments, the rich, young ruler could have said something like - I have followed those, but now I choose to believe in you as our Messiah, as my Savior - Good Teacher. Jesus gave the man the perfect opportunity to not only say something like that, but to show it also. I love how Mark remembers this and records it - "Jesus looked at him and loved him." Jesus did not leave the man hanging, He told him what must be done but in a direct and loving way. In this manner Christ said, "'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" 

Interesting that Jesus seems to give the man a lot of steps, but does not name the "one thing" he lacks until the last sentence - "Then come, follow me." Some followed Jesus as a Prophet, some as a Priest and some as potential King. Then there were others who believed Him to be The Messiah, the Son of the living God, the Good Shepherd and The Good Teacher.

The man reminds me of Ebeneezer Scrooge - putting his dependency in his wealth and material possessions. Unfortunately, the man could not get past these. "At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth." The man did not have faith. There was no faith in Jehovah Jireh, The God, his Provider. And Christ's response teaches us this - "Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!'" 

In this passage (Mark 10:17-23), the original Greek word for "Good" is agathos, meaning beneficial in anything. This word is also used to describe the kind of gift that comes from Father God in James 1:17 - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." Jesus, our Redemption is the ultimate "good and perfect gift". Paul said to the believers in Rome - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

No one is Beneficial for Anything except God alone. He sent His - Beneficial for Anything Gift, Christ Jesus, as our Redemptive Sacrifice. Is Jesus Christ just another teacher to you? Or - is Christ Jesus your Savior, your Life Coach, your Beneficial for Anything, your Good Teacher?