Mark 10:18, Why do you call me good?

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

//Every now and then this verse comes up in a conversation. It’s from the gospel of Mark, a gospel that is often gritty, giving Jesus a more human face than the other three. In this verse, Jesus seems to be denying that he is good … and certainly denying that he is God.

Seldom will a conservative Christian read this verse straightforwardly. Instead, they see Jesus as presenting a sort of puzzle. “You say I’m good...