The Divinity of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel: A Case Study

Here is a great article by Jordan Hampton of The Analytic Christian regarding Jesus’s engagement on the subject of divinity in Mark’s Gospel. Check it out!

A viewer named Doug contacted me and raised an objection to the deity of Christ based on Mark 10:18. I’ll first lay out Doug’s objection, and then offer my response to it.

The Objection

In Mark 10:17-18, a rich man says to Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life.” And Jesus responds by saying, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” How should we interpret Jesus’ words here? Is Jesus saying that he is not good, thereby implying that he is not divine? That’s what Doug thinks, and he offers two reasons to interpret the passage this way.

First, after hearing Jesus’ response, the rich man stopped referring to Jesus as “Good Teacher,” and instead just called him “Teacher” (v. 20). This suggests that Jesus was saying not to call him good.

Second, every other time there’s a “rhetorical ‘why’ question” in Mark’s gospel, it’s always a way of saying “don’t _______” or “you shouldn’t ________.” Here are just three examples, but more could be offered.

To read the full article, please click here.