Let the dead bury the dead.

Matthew 8: 18-22
When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."


Wow. Let the dead bury their own dead…

We lead our busy lives, fitting into society quite well, and feel pretty good when we squeeze in time for prayer, Bible study, and church activities. (No preaching in the desert, camel hair wardrobe and diets of wild honey and locusts for us.)

Can you imagine yourself in the place of the man whose father had just died? Jesus says “follow me”. You say, “Sure Lord. I’ll be right there. I just need to bury my father first.” Seems reasonable, doesn’t it? If ANYTHING would be a good reason for a short delay, wouldn’t that be it?!! How are you supposed to drop everything and follow when you haven’t even had time to grieve the death of your father? Besides, what would people THINK if you didn’t show up at your own father’s funeral?

Did Jesus say “Sure, go ahead. There’s no hurry. Come back when you’re ready and you’ve got all the estate details settled.”? No, he said “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

When I read the passage earlier this morning, it almost took my breath away to imagine myself in the man’s shoes hearing Jesus tell me to “let the dead bury their own dead”. But Lord! Surely you don’t expect me to come now without even burying my father?

Are you like me? Do you find yourself wanting to consider that passage just an extreme example that Jesus used to illustrate a point? Are you telling yourself that Jesus wouldn’t really expect anything that extreme from us today (love your enemies, turn the other cheek, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and so on…)?

Or, is it possible that Jesus does expects that much from us… a radical readiness to follow NOW…a no-holds barred willingness to leave behind the norms and societal conventions? Is it possible that He expects more than a watered down socially acceptable response to the gospel message?

What is Jesus asking of me? Of you? Of the church? Are we ready to “let the dead bury the dead” and follow Him?