Chapter # 10 Paragraph # 3 Study # 2
August 15, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: There is none good, but God.
Introduction: In our last study we considered the indicators of the attitude that prevents entrance into the Kingdom of The God.
This evening we are going to go deeper into Makr's words so that we might embrace what Jesus said.
- I. Round Two: The Attitude That Prevents Entrance Into The Kingdom Of The God.
- A. The initial indicators of this "attitude".
- B. The first words out of his mouth were "Good Teacher".
- 1. The word order is, "Teacher, good..."
- a. As "Teacher".
- 1) This "one who has run after Him and fallen on his knees before Him" has identified Him in such a way as to assert that "he" is willing to be a disciple of Him.
- 2) This makes the words of the "Teacher" authoritative by acclamation, so that this "one" is attempting to give the impression that he is willing to take His words as "guidance".
- b. As "Good".
- 1) The acclamation is that the "Teacher" has a place in the heart/mind of this "one" as One Who will only give "Truth" (Note: Mark 12:14).
- 2) Also, as "good", the acclamation is an expression of the general concept of "the innate goodness of man".
- 2. Clearly this was only an expression designed to flatter because the "one" proved to be unwilling to follow through on his own designation of Jesus as "Teacher".
- 3. Just as clearly, Jesus fixed the attention of everyone upon the issue of "being good" enough to "inherit eternal life".
- C. The "burning question" that appeared to be reason for the "running" and "kneeling".
- 1. The issue: inheriting eternal life.
- a. This issue is generally considered, by the Jews, as not "inheriting" on the basis of the physical relationship to a "father", but, rather, as an "inheritance" that comes on the basis of "merit" coming out of behavior.
- b. There are six uses of the word translated "inherit" in the Gospel records (excluding John, which does not even use the word) and all of them are rooted in the notion of being given the inertance on the basis of "doing a particular act of good" that would move God to extend "an inheritance".
- c. There is little, to no, concept in Jewish theology of the "fatherhood of God".
- d. And the issue of "eternal life" in Mark is only addressed in four texts: 9:43-45; 10:17; and 10:30; all of which put it into a category of everlasting benefit on the basis of some form of "good deeds".
- 2. The assumed methodology: "doing".
- a. This assumption was rife with "issues".
- 1) Jewish theology, by this time, was completely smothered by the notion that "good people" could/should "do" good things" to self-qualify for the inheritance of eternal life (Romans 10:2-3).
- 2) This "theology" was a cover for the real issue: making a great deal out of performance so that others would "see" how "great" was the person who was "performing".
- b. This assumption was addressed immediately by Jesus with a strong contradiction.
- 1) Why is it a "doctrinal issue" with you that "I am good"? [lego plus agathon].
- a) lego is typically used for declaring "doctrine" as "truth".
- b) agathon is contextually defined as the qualifying characteristic of the heirs of Life.
- 2) Only God has the characteristic that you are attributing to men.
- a) At this point, Jesus goes to the undeniable foundations of The Faith: man's universal "not good" character.
- i. All through the Bible, from Genesis 3 to Revelation 20:9, man is revealed to be profoundly enslaved to "Sin" (with Ezekiel 14:14, 20 the only "possible" exceptions, but those texts are in the context of "believers" whose exceptional lifestyles were the outcome of "faith in God" and not "faith in themselves" -- even Daniel did not sidestep his inclusion in the general condition in his prayer of confession).
- ii. Paul summarized this condition as an integral aspect of The Gospel of God in Romans 3:9-18.
- b) By this denial of man's "goodness" Jesus made "inheritance by performance" an impossible theological position.
- c. This assumption is, then, misdirected by Jesus' immediate insertion of "the commandments".
- 1) He did this because He knew that His denial of man's innate goodness was sufficiently entrenched that this man would not and did not "believe" the words of the "Teacher".
- 2) In the commandments to which He referred, He skipped the ones that related to God.
- a) This was deliberate: the man's pride was so great that he was blind to the fact that his attitude was offensive to the Truth of God.
- b) Thus, Jesus didn't even try to approach the issue of "God"; He simply went to the "provable": the treatment one renders to his fellow man.
