Ask a Pastor Column

Q: What does Jesus mean in Matthew 8:18-22 when He tells his disciple to follow Him and let the dead bury their own dead?

A:  Great job finding and listing the context surrounding the verse you’re asking about! Jesus’ words to a would-be disciple to “let the dead bury their own dead” are included in a set of responses to those who expressed a willingness to follow Him (Luke lists a third interaction in his account; Luke 9:57-62). Taken together, these conversations present information to the reader about where Christ expects to be placed upon our priority list. His comment about foxes and birds was a gentle reminder that following Him sometimes means forgoing personal comfort, and the statement about the dead reveals that commitment to Christ must be more important than even the deepest family responsibilities.

       It is unclear whether the near-disciple in question had an ailing father about to die or one who had just died and required burial. Either way it was an important family duty during a difficult time. Despite this, Jesus remained clear in His call; following Him must be more important than any family obligation. His statement can be paraphrased in this way; “Those who are spiritually dead can take care of the physically dead, but there are few who recognize the far more important need for gospel work; make Me your priority and let others care for your father.”

       My wife and I just recently had to put this principle into practice. Non-Christian family members were putting pressure on us to fulfill what they saw as a family obligation. While we would normally have been happy to help, some details about the situation created a conflict between family duty and our Christian calling. Our refusal caused some resentment; some of our relatives didn’t understand why we were putting Christ first. Unfortunately, Jesus warned us these kinds of conflicts were possible (see Matthew 10:34-39). But the gospel is objectively more important than anything else and must be kept as our first and highest priority.

As it was, the need of our family member was more than met by others in the family and no one suffered from our commitment. And this was exactly the outcome that Jesus was pointing to in Matthew 8. He didn’t want the man’s father to go unburied, He just knew that others would step in to take care of it, leaving the man free to follow Christ if he chose.

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