"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
The man had some sense of the goodness of Jesus, and an intuition that Jesus was qualified to answer this question about the requirements of eternal life. If we think about this we will realize that not just anyone would be qualified to answer such a question. It wasn't really a matter of interpretation of Scripture or of law since it wasn't even a matter addressed directly. Much less would one desire something that was merely the opinion of another on the matter, or his best guess. What one would desire is the answer of one who knew. And the one who knew would be the one whose gift it was to give.
You know the commandments
...
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
The law did not seem to contain the answer in itself, even though the commandments themselves were obviously not optional. Even having kept all of the commandments from his youth the man, according to Jesus, was still "lacking in one thing". What was that thing? It was Jesus himself. The path to eternal life could be found exclusively in answering the invitation of Jesus to "come, follow me".
At that statement, his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
The commandments were required but not sufficient for eternal life. Riches were not a de facto disqualification, but they made things much more difficult. In order to follow Jesus in freedom one would need to dispose their possessions, not according to their own desires, but as Jesus commanded. To prefer his possessions to Jesus was a choice for worldly treasure over and against heavenly treasure. He was meant to be in the world but not of the world, but it was clear that it was the world and not the Kingdom that was defining the course of his life.
"Then who can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For men it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God."
The man was able to keep the commandments. We don't want to say that even this was done without the aid of grace. But he may have still felt some sense of self-sufficiency and achievement in having done so. There may have been a bit of pride in his statement that "all of these I have observed from my youth". But there was no way to maintain such a sense of self-reliance while taking the next step to follow Jesus. Only surrender would make such a step possible. There was nothing in the rich man that could motivate or enable such a choice. But God could do so in him. Perhaps some day the man would become frustrated and dissatisfied with his wealth and turn to God for this grace.
Peter clearly understood the fact that eternal life was a gift of the Lord Jesus Christ who alone had "the words of eternal life" (see John 6:68). He knew where the gift was to be found, and he understood what a treasure it was. He expressed this by describing it in a way that would not apply to any earthly riches. It was "an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you". Because the gift was so precious, the faith by which we open ourselves to receive it was itself "more precious than gold". The joy of knowing that we possess this treasure is something we are meant to experience even here and now. It was not yet heaven or the end of the age Peter described at the end of today's first reading. This was the state of the disciple as wayfarer, even while still on the journey home.
Although you have not seen him you love him;
even though you do not see him now yet you believe in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of faith, the salvation of your souls.
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