And he said unto him,
Why do you call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments.
All Commentaries on Matthew 19:17 Go To Matthew 19
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Why therefore did Christ reply to him in these words: “No one is good”? Because he considered Jesus a mere man and one of the crowd, and a Jewish teacher. For this reason he spoke as a man to him. For often he answers the hidden thoughts of the questioner, as when he says, “We worship what we know” and “If I bear witness of myself, my testimony is not true.” Therefore when he says, “No one is good,” he does not say this to show that he is not good; far from it. For he does not say, “Why do you call me good? I am not good” but “No one is good,” that is, no human being. When he says this, he does not mean to exclude men from goodness but to make a comparison with the goodness of God. Therefore he adds, “Except God alone.” The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
