17. Then, as a proof that He resents the
name “good master,” on the ground of the unbelief, which
addresses Him as a man, He replies to the vain-glorious youth, and his
boast that he had fulfilled the law, One thing thou lackest; go,
sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. There is no
shrinking from the title of “good” in the promise of
heavenly treasures, no reluctance to be regarded as
“master” in the offer to lead the way to perfect
blessedness. But there is reproof of the unbelief which draws an
earthly opinion of Him from the teaching, that goodness belongs to God
alone. To signify that He is both good and God, He exercises the
functions of goodness, opening the heavenly treasures, and offering
Himself as guide to them. All the homage offered to Him as man He
repudiates, but he does not disown that which He paid to God; for at
the moment when He confesses that the one God is good, His words and
actions are those of the power and the goodness and the nature of the
one God.