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Mark 10 · a question people ask

"Why do you call me good?" (10:18). What was Jesus saying?

In the text

Here is what the chapter says. The man ran to him, knelt, and asked, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" (10:17). Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God" (10:18), and went straight on to the commandments (10:19). Jesus doesn't explain his question in this chapter. Luke gives the question in the same words, "Why do you call me good?" (Luke 18:19). Christians read Jesus's question in more than one way; the chapter doesn't say what he meant, and these notes don't answer it for him.

The verses

“As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’””
Mark 10:17-19 · World English Bible
“A certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one: God.”
Luke 18:18-19 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Mark 10

Mark 10: Followed Jesus on the way

Jesus asks the same question twice in this chapter: "What do you want me to do for you?" (10:36, 10:51). James and John asked to sit at his right hand and his left in his glory. Blind Bartimaeus asked to see again, and then "followed Jesus on the way" (10:52).

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions