Then another disciple came to him:
21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.””
Now we have to understand the context. For a Jew, to have said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” could have meant one of the following two things, or even both.
It was expected for a Jew, and considered to be an honour, that when his father died, he would give him an elaborate and expensive funeral, which could take weeks or months, a lot of his time. Also, on these occasions, there would often be excessive drinking. If this was the context, Jesus was saying that a funeral should not be a hindrance to following Him. In other words, don’t let your allegiance to your father be greater than your allegiance to Me. And don’t let family come before Me. We have to realize that Jesus was speaking into that specific context.
Remember that to the rich, young ruler whose god was his money, Jesus said “go, sell all that you have and come and follow Me, and you will have treasure in heaven” Jesus was calling him to repent of his idol of possessions. Maybe in this context, this disciple’s idol was his father or family. Jesus does not require every follower to sell all their possessions in order to follow him, neither does he require Christians not to have funerals for their family members. There is nothing wrong with having a funeral or a memorial service for someone who has died. Jesus, by saying this, does not unequivocally reject participating in, or conducting funerals.
What Jesus requires is that He must be your Lord. And that means, we must follow Him wherever he leads us. Our ties or attachment to God must be stronger than any other ties or attachments. When Jesus says in the gospels that we must love Him more than a child or father or mother or wife, He is not saying we must not love them at all! He is not calling people to abandon their families forever to preach the gospel. He is saying nothing must stand in the way of following him; no family member must stand between us and our love for Christ.
The alternative interpretation is preferable:
John Legg, in his commentary on Matthew, says that in Jewish culture and custom it was believed that a man must wait until his father died before doing what he wanted to do, and when he dies to arrange his funeral. In other words, this disciple’s father was not dead, but he asked that he be allowed to wait until his father had died, to bury him and then follow Jesus. It could take months or years before he could follow Jesus. In Jewish culture, families lived their whole lives together in a tight-knit community. Not as in Western culture today which is very individualistic.
In this context, Jesus replies, “let the dead bury their dead”, meaning, don’t wait until your father dies to follow Me, but follow me NOW.
The meaning stays the same, whether you prefer the first or second interpretation. To follow Jesus means, that Jesus must be the most important person in your life. And if He commands that you leave your family or country behind, then you should do so – you must do so!
Think of Abram: In Genesis 12 we read that God told him to leave his country and his family and go to the land He would show him and that He would bless him and make his name great. And what did Abram do? He believed and obeyed God. And he was blessed. If we believe and trust God, He will bless us. If we believe in Christ, we will follow Him.
Think of Ruth, Peter, John and the other apostles: When Christ called them, they left all and followed Him.
Think of missionaries in bygone times: people like George Smith, David Livingstone, Hudson Taylor, Florence Nightingale, Mary Slessor. They left all and followed Jesus.
When Christ calls us to follow Him, nothing must stand in the way.
We cannot say, “Lord, let me first do this or that, and then I will follow You. Let me first enjoy my life, build my career, care for my children, and then follow you”. No. Christ calls us to follow Him now, regardless. There is a cost involved in following Jesus.
In the gospel of Luke, in chapter 9:60, the same incident is related. Jesus says, “let the dead bury their dead, but you go and preach the Kingdom of God”. The dead refers to the spiritually dead. Let them who serve their idols serve them. Let them continue in their sins and bury their dead. But you, go and preach the gospel.
Nothing should stand in the way of following Jesus. What is God calling you to leave behind today? What is more important to you than God?
Jesus is still calling: Follow Me!
Follow Me and let the dead bury their own dead
Follow Me and let those who love the world, continue to love the world.
Follow Me and leave your idols behind
Follow Me, not a theological system.
Follow Me, not a denomination or celebrity preacher or your pastor. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men
Follow Me and go and preach the gospel.
Follow Me and you will find your life.
To follow Christ is to trust Christ. Don’t worry about your life.
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