Jesus' answer to the rich young man in the Matthew passage had me searching for the meaning of the word "good." He said there was only One who was good. God. That is because only God is intrinsically good. Even Jesus did not claim to be good in and of himself because he was flesh and blood. His goodness came from being one with God. It makes me think of the animals that live in my house. They are keenly interested in that squirrel on top of the bird feeder. It is their nature to hunt small prey. My cat prefers the birds that visit the feeder, while my dog is more interested in the squirrel. They can't be any other way. And God can't be any other way than Good.
