Abstract
Criticizing Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth, G. Vermes argued from Mark 10:18 that Jesus did not consider himself divine. After reviewing current exegetical opinion, this article analyzes the text in the context of Mark's whole Gospel to demonstrate Jesus' consciousness of his divinity, his use of analogy (negative theology), and the congruence of his claim for absolute adherence with his preaching of the Kingdom of God. The pericope's implications for discipleship and evangelical poverty are further explicated in Mark 10:23—31. God's love demands an absolute response since he first emptied himself for mankind's redemption.
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