SPSA Church Giving (opens in a new tab)

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty · Catechism · 386

Faith Q&A › Catechism › 11. Titles and Names of the Savior that Witness to the Works of His Love

Why is Jesus called “the Good Teacher”?

The answer

Our beneficent Messiah transforms what seems to us to be evil into what is for our good and our benefit. In possessing Him, we possess goodness itself. St. Ambrose says, “in adding ‘Good Master’, the ruler is making out our Lord to be only partially good, and not totally good. For only God is totally good, while humankind is but partially good. This explains why the Lord says: ‘why do you call me good, you who deny that I am God. Why call me good when only God is good?’ He is not denying that He is good, but He is pointing out that He is God … And if the Father is good, He who received all from the Father (cf. John 17:10) is most certainly good.”754

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

754 St. Ambrose of Milan, Commentary of St. Ambrose on the Gospel according to Saint Luke, trans., Ide M. Ni Riain (Dublin: Halcyon Press, 2001) 8.65, 66: pp. 293.

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.