Only God is Good: A Reflection on Matthew 10:17-18

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.

Matthew 10:17-18

Have you ever read the Bible from beginning to end? I’ve done so several times, and I must admit, the Old Testament can be a challenging journey. As a human race, we struggle – and even God’s chosen people continually fall short. From Adam onward, it’s a narrative filled with failures and heartbreak.

Even the heroes of Scripture are deeply flawed. The Old Testament tells a story of redemption, yet even after repentance, its central figures often stumble again. Take David, for example: he committed murder, repented, and was restored to God’s favor, only to falter again later in life. Moses, arguably one of the greatest Old Testament heroes, also took a life. However, his encounter with God at the burning bush transformed him into the meekest man on earth. After many years of faithfulness, though, he acted out of self-reliance by striking the rock twice for water – an act of disobedience that cost him entry into the promised land.

The narrative of the Old Testament is one of highs and lows – good kings followed by corrupt ones, victories overshadowed by defeats, and cycles of exile and restoration.

I find myself wanting to cry out to them, “Don’t you see? Just stay faithful, and everything will be made right!” But then I realize – I must first direct those words at myself. I fall short time and again, even though I have Jesus, who transforms everything.

The New Testament truly serves as the pivotal moment in both Scripture and human history. The Son of God becoming the Son of Man changes everything. Yet are we any better off than those in the Old Testament? It’s a difficult question, and one might argue that humanity hasn’t improved – and that, in many ways, the world has grown darker.

The New Testament centers on Jesus and His revelation of the Triune God. He is the turning point, the one who changes everything. Only God is good, and Jesus, being fully God and fully man, stands as the only truly good among us. He came to save us because He is Love itself, and love is His very nature. As 1 John 4:19 beautifully reminds us: 

“We love because He first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

That is the essence of His mission – He loves us and saves us from ourselves, gathering us to Him, restoring us, and making His victory over sin and death a reality for us, even as we wrestle with life’s challenges.

Ongoing salvation through Jesus

Still, even our New Testament heroes fell short, Peter and Paul included. The truth is, no one among us, aside from Jesus, is without flaws. While making the vital decision to repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior is foundational, it’s not a one-time event. Salvation through Jesus is ongoing. He doesn’t just save us once in the past; He continues to save us each day. It is His work, not ours, that redeems us from sin and overcomes our flaws. His actions alone make us good, holy, and faithful.

Our part is to acknowledge our profound and constant need for Him. It means trusting in Him alone, through life’s triumphs and trials, joys and sorrows. That means being clothed in humility and there is the rub. We want to do this ourselves. True freedom comes, however, when we acknowledge our constant need for a Savior. 

We are on a journey, leaving behind this world and its struggles as we move toward something far greater – a new heaven and a new earth. That better place is already in existence. For us, it is both present and future. Now, we can join the heavenly courts in thanking, worshiping and adoring our Triune God. And yet, it won’t be fully realized until our own bodily resurrection. This hope is why today’s world, despite its challenges, is immeasurably better off than before the Incarnation. Jesus’s coming changed everything. Jesus coming again will bring that change to completion! Come Lord Jesus! 

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Top image credit: Christ and the rich young ruler, painting by Heinrich Hofmann, 1889, purchased by John D Rockefeller Jr, now residing at Riverside Church, New York, USA. Image in the Public Domain. Source: Commons Wikimedia.org.