Jesus was starting out on a trip, when a man came running up, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.

“But as for your question, you know the commandments: `Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. Do not cheat. Honor your father and mother.’”

The man replied, “Teacher, I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was a child.”

Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him. “Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this, the man’s face fell, and he went away sad because he had many possessions. (Mark 10:17-22 NLT)

Have you ever thought much about Jesus’ first response to this fellow? “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.”

Right off the bat, I’m struck by Jesus’ humility. If ever there was a good man, it was him. Interesting, isn’t it, that the one person in history who didn’t really need to be humble was the most humble of them all?

We could use more humility like that these days. Our world seems filled with people who think they are good.

Some of us mistake self-righteousness for goodness. We look down our noses at the “brood of vipers” who don’t keep the rules like we do. We seem to think that not being as bad as someone else is the same thing as being good.

And there’s another group of us who think we are sort of “good by definition,” good because we’ve gotten rid of any standard for judging between good and bad. We’re like a high-jumper who takes down the crossbar before making his leap. No such thing as a bad high-jumper then, is there?

Jesus is reminding this fellow that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans. 3:23) And he also is asking the question Jesus posed to his disciples earlier: “Who do you say I am?” (Mark 8:29)

“You have called me good. Only God is truly good,” Jesus says. The unspoken question is “Are you willing to say I am God?”

But there’s something even deeper and more personal going on here. Jesus is checking to see whether this fellow really “gets it” or not. Jesus wants to know if he understands what it is that makes a person truly good.

He quotes the Law to him: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal,” and so on. Does this fellow think goodness is about following certain rules? Or does he understand that goodness actually comes from trusting God and living God’s way?

The bad news is the rich young man doesn’t understand: “I have kept all these rules since I was a child.” So Jesus pushes closer to the point: “Are you willing to give up the precious things you’ve worked hard to acquire and put God’s kingdom first?”

Jesus is asking this fellow if he is willing to trade righteousness for goodness. The Apostle Paul noted “one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.” (Romans 5:7 NASB) Would this fellow die for a good man like Jesus? Is he willing to give up his things for the sake of people who aren’t even righteous?

Jesus is confronting this fellow – and us – with a call to discipleship.

He tells his followers: “If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me. Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24 paraphrased)

“Take up your cross” was a vivid metaphor for those people. It’s what a convicted criminal did on his way to execution. It’s what Jesus himself was going to do before long – suffer and die for people who didn’t deserve it. He wanted to know if this fellow loved other people and God’s kingdom more than he loved his own possessions.

The Bible says the young man went away sad and grieving that day. He thought God wanted people who could follow rules. He thought it didn’t matter if other people were suffering, as long as he lived up to the standard he had set for himself.

Mark doesn’t say it, but I’m sure it’s true: Jesus went on his way sad and grieving too. Here was one more who didn’t understand.