“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
- KJV And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
- NKJV So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
- NASB And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
- NLT “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus questions why the man calls him good, since God alone is good, and directs him to keep the commandments. He is pressing the man to reckon with God's perfect standard and his own claim.
Overview
Jesus does not deny his own goodness but invites the man to consider what calling him 'good' implies about his identity. By pointing to the commandments, Jesus meets the man on his own works-based terms to expose that no one truly keeps God's law. The law thus functions as a mirror, driving sinners to seek mercy in Christ rather than confidence in themselves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Lev 18:5Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
- Gal 3:11–13Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Luke 10:26–28“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”
- 1 Sam 2:2There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
- Rom 10:5For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
- 1 Jn 4:16And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- Ezek 20:11–12And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
- Ezek 20:21But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness.
- Neh 9:29You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
- Ps 145:7–9They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
- 1 Jn 4:8–10Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Ps 52:1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 19:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.