Mark 10:18 (LSB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Mark 10:16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

Mark 10:17 And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Mark 10:19 You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”

Mark 10:20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "said", "call", "good", "except", and "alone". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "And as He was setting out on..." into verse 19's "You know the commandments Do not murder...", so "jesus" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.