Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
This is mentioned in all the Synoptic Gospels. As this is often cherry-picked by Muslim apologists the other references are included to fully understand what Jesus is actually teaching.
Mark 10:17–20:
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”Matthew 19:16–20:
And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”Luke 18:18–21:
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
This is perhaps the most debated verse in Markan Christology. Skeptics often claim Jesus is denying His divinity here.
“Why” - Jesus uses an interrogative pronoun, not a negative particle. He does not say, "Do not call me good" or "I am not good". By asking "Why?", He is asking the ruler to examine the basis for the title. If Jesus intended to deny His goodness, the Greek would require a clear negation. Instead, the grammar focuses on the ruler’s motive. Jesus does not negate “good”; He questions the basis for using it.
“Good Teacher” - Jesus is forcing the man to see Him as either God or a fraud—there is no "merely good teacher" middle ground. Agathos (ἀγαθός): Used in Mark 10:18. It refers to intrinsic, perfect, moral goodness. This is the "God-standard" goodness.
“what must I do” - Jesus redirects the focus to God to show that goodness is not a human achievement (which the ruler believed it was, based on his "What must I do..." question) but a divine essence. The ruler’s problem was self-righteousness. He thought he was "good" because he kept the law.
“no one is good except God alone” - Jesus sets the bar of "Good" at the level of God alone. By doing so, He isn't disqualifying Himself; He is disqualifying the ruler. He is saying, "If only God is good, and you aren't God, then you aren't good." This destroys the man's hope in his own works.
“All these I have kept from my youth” - Jesus is redirecting the man from a "checklist" of goodness to the Source of goodness. If the man wants to know about "the good," he must look to God. He claims to have perfectly kept the Commandments.
Jesus is forcing the rich young ruler to decide: "Am I just a 'teacher' to you, or are you ready to acknowledge Me as the Source of Goodness?"Jesus is not denying His goodness or divinity; He is forcing the speaker to recognise the theological weight of calling Him “good,” which—by Jewish monotheistic standards—belongs only to God. He will fail the test in the following verses as Jesus calls him to leave all behind and follow Him.
No Jewish rabbi would have called themselves “good” By allowing the title to stand, Jesus forces a dilemma:
Jesus says in John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (YHWH title from Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34). Christ shares divine goodness by nature. NO early Christian understood this as a denial of divinity.
Jesus is uniquely sinless in both the Bible and the Qur’an (Surah 3:45;, 19:19). Islamic interpretations arise 600+ years later, detached from the linguistic and Jewish framework.