Orange

Series: Life is Good

Scripture: Mark 10:18 ESV

In Mark 10:18 Jesus is making it clear that he is the Son of God, Jesus has the same attributes as God the father, and Jesus is good.

In Mark 10:18 we are told, “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

First off, Jesus was using his words carefully in order to make a point that if Jesus truly is of God, he is good. It’s a rhetorical statement to make a point.

The young man was flattering Jesus when he approached him. Jesus was not interested in his flattery. Jesus was interested in this man and his heart.

We have to remember first century context. For centuries, upon centuries, the Hebrew people had worshiped God and God alone. The statement that Jesus is God would have been difficult for the Hebrew culture to accept. After all, Moses told them there is one God.

Jesus coming to earth really was a pivotal moment in history. God was revealing God n the flesh.

God was teaching them the fullness of God. In order to convey God the father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, Jesus needed them to know they were three but one. In other words, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are in perfect harmony with each other.

Think of it this way. The orange an outside skin, it has the fruit inside, and it has seeds. All three are part of the orange. If I was holding an orange and you asked what I was holding I would say, an orange. If I was eating the fruit and you asked what I was eating I would say an orange. And if you saw the seeds and you asked where they came from I would say, the orange. The three parts are the orange.

In this verse Jesus was making a point about what was to come. God the Son had not been crucified yet and he had not risen from the grave. God the Spirit had not been sent to the fill believers on earth.

Two thousand plus years later we can see the big picture.

They did not have that advantage.

Before Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, he was preparing them for what was about to happen. After the resurrection the realization of the fullness of Jesus was revealed. They remembered he told them it would happen. They remembered things he had said he would do but they it didn’t understand it when they heard it. After the resurrection everything was clear.

Think of it this way when you were a child and your parents told you to do something that you didn’t understand you didn’t wanna do it because you didn’t understand why they were telling you to do this strange thing. For myself, one of those strange things when I was very young was having to go to the basement to sit when the sky was dark outside. In Kansas City we had many tornadoes when I was young. I did not like being told I had to stop playing and I had to go to the basement. In addition to being scooped up and carried to the basement I couldn’t pick up all my toys and take them with me. They did usually grab one stuffed animal I slept with, but I wanted ALL of my toys.

I didn’t understand.

I didn’t see the big picture.

And so it was with the disciples and the people Jesus met.

We remember their perspective. In the Old Testament a Rabbi (teacher) would not have been addressed as a ‘good’ master because only God was good.

In hindsight we can see what Jesus was saying and doing in order to prepare them for what was to come, but they didn’t know what they didn’t know.

Jesus knew what they were thinking.

He was preparing them for what was to come.

Think about it…how do you prepare someone for an event that only God can do?

One baby step at a time everything Jesus said and did was getting the world ready for what was about to happen.

Deborah

acrazyjourney.com