But Jesus said to him, “Follow me and let the dead bury their dead.”
8:22 Jesus said to him: Follow me; let the dead bury their dead.—This is another of Jesus’ harsh words (“Hard is this word; who can hear it? Joh 6:60). can be compared with Matt 5:29-30 (cut off the hand, gouge out the eye); 19:21 (sell what you have); Luke 14:26 (to hate the family), etc. These texts emphasize the need to put Christ and his work first. are good comments about Matt 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” with emphasis on the word first. Those who cannot learn this simple lesson cannot be Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ always showed mercy and compassion, but at the same time he always demanded the first thing from those who wanted to follow him. This text speaks of a disciple (“another of his disciples”). This teaching is therefore for his disciples. Luke 9:59-60 is a parallel text that explains it further. Jesus had told him, “Follow me,” and so he had replied, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” This commandment (“Follow me”) is the same that Peter and Andrew had heard (Matt 4:18-19), and “So they immediately left their nets and followed him” (v 20). This is the obedience that Christ requires. They too could have said, “We have to do other things first,” but they didn’t. They simply left the nets and followed him, and they did so instantly. This commandment is the same that James and John heard (Matt 4:21) and they also “immediately leaving the boat and their father, followed him”. It is another example of the obedience that Christ requires. This commandment is the same that Matthew heard (Matt 9:9). Jesus said to him: “Follow me”. E1 made no excuses, but “got up and followed him”. This commandment is the same that Philip heard Joh 1:43): “Follow me”. The “other disciple” mentioned in Matt 8:21-22 Y Luke 9:59-60 he did not put the Lord first. He did not seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, but he put something else first. He did not obey Christ, as Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew did. God has always required the former. Exo 13:2“Consecrate to me all firstborn”; Exo 22:29“You shall not delay the firstfruits of your harvest”; 2Co 8:5, “they gave themselves first to the Lord.” It is also worth mentioning that if this disciple had buried his father, he would have been unclean for a week (Num 19:11-22). The point is that when Christ gives us a command we must not let anything interrupt or hinder our obedience. Does this word of Jesus seem very harsh to us? Verse 22 says that “Jesus said to him: Follow me; he lets the dead bury their dead”; that is, letting the spiritually dead bury the physically dead 1Ti 5:6 says, “But the one who gives herself to pleasures, living is dead”. Eph 2:1 It says, “And he gave you life, when you were dead in trespasses and sins.” Worldly obligations can be taken care of by the spiritually dead, but Jesus had given this disciple another more important duty: that of announcing the kingdom. Some believe that the expression “let me go first and bury my father” means “let me take care of my elderly father until he dies”, perhaps for a period of years. It is not possible to prove that this was the thought of Jesus. Jesus knew this disciple, and he knew what he had to tell him. Compare the case of the rich young man. What Jesus said to this young man may also seem harsh to us, but the Good Physician knows when it is necessary to amputate a right hand and gouge out a right eye. Matt 5:29-30; Matt 18:8-9). Sometimes people believed that Jesus’ teaching was harsh. Joh 6:60; Joh 6:66, “When many of his disciples heard them, they said: This is a hard word; Who can hear it?… Since then many of his disciples turned back, And walked no more with him. Why did they say this? why did they go back? Because Jesus emphasized the spiritual and minimized the material (“The spirit is what gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life”, Joh 6:63). For this reason people were scandalized.
Matt 15:12“Then his disciples came and said to him, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this word?” Why? Because Jesus condemned the human traditions taught by the Pharisees.
Matt 19:10, “His disciples said to him: If this is the condition of a man with his wife, it is not convenient to marry”. Why did they say this? Because Jesus had said (v 9) that “And I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” Most Jews believed that they could get a divorce for any reason, and they did not like the strictness of Christ’s law. For this reason even the disciples were offended. Unfortunately, to date they are scandalized by the same thing.
Matt 19:21-22, Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. Hearing the young man this word, he went away sad, because he had many possessions”. He was shocked. His teaching seemed very hard to her. Matt 5:29-30; Matt 18:8-9 Isn’t the teaching harsh that it would be better to cut off the right hand and gouge out the right eye than to stumble and be lost? Why does Jesus require so many difficult things? To avoid tripping; that is, to remove from our lives the things that hinder us spiritually. If we do not first seek the things of God we cannot go to heaven. Therefore, he told the disciple, “Follow me; let the dead bury their dead”… “and you go, and announce the kingdom of God”. It is a “hard” commandment, but the teaching of these other texts is also hard (Matt 5:29-30; Matt 15:1-12; Matt 5:32: Matt 19:9: Matt 19:21: Joh 6:1-71, etc.), but it was and is necessary teaching for salvation. The amputation of the right hand would be very severe and painful, but it would be worth it to save the soul (Matt 5:29-30; Matt 18:8-9). As we read such accounts, let us remember that Jesus wants everyone to be saved. He knew that this “other disciple” was in danger of burying himself when he buried his father. What Jesus said, then, was to save his soul.
Source: Commentary on the New Testament by Partain
follow me Matt 4:18-22; Matt 9:9; Joh 1:43.
let the dead bury their dead. Luke 15:32; Eph 2:1, Eph 2:5; Eph 5:14; Col 2:13; 1Ti 5:6.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD. That phrase of Christ means: “Let the spiritual dead bury the physical dead.” It is probable that the disciple of v. Matt 8:21 he wanted to stay with his old father until he died.
Source: Full Life Study Bible
let the dead bury their dead. Let the world (spiritually dead) take care of worldly things.
Source: MacArthur Study Bible
8:22 Jesus said to him: Follow me; let the dead bury their dead.- This is another of Jesus’ harsh words (“This is a hard word; who can hear it? Joh 6:60). It can be compared to Mat 5:29-30 (cut off the hand, gouge out the eye); 19:21 (sell what you have); Luk 14:26 (hate family), etc. These texts emphasize the need to put Christ and his work first. They are good comments on Mat 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” with an emphasis on the word first. Those who cannot learn this simple lesson cannot be Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ always showed mercy and compassion, but at the same time he always demanded the first thing from those who wanted to follow him.
This text speaks of a disciple (“another of his disciples”). This teaching is therefore for his disciples. Luke 9:59-60 is a parallel text that explains it further. Jesus had told him, “Follow me,” and so he had replied, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” This commandment (“Follow me”) is the same that Peter and Andrew had heard (Mat 4:18-19), and “Then immediately leaving their nets, they followed him” (v 20). This is the obedience that Christ requires. They too could have said, “We have to do other things first,” but they didn’t. They simply left the nets and followed him, and they did so instantly.
This commandment is the same that James and John heard (Mat 4:21) and they also “immediately leaving the boat and their father, followed him.” It is another example of the obedience that Christ requires. This commandment is the same one that Matthew heard (Mat 9:9). Jesus said to him: “Follow me”. E1 made no excuses, but “got up and followed him”. This commandment is the same that Philip heard Jua 1:43): “Follow me.” The “another disciple” mentioned in Mat 8:21-22 and Luke 9:59-60 did not put the Lord first. He did not seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, but he put something else first. He did not obey Christ, as Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew did. God has always required the former. Exo 13:2, “Consecrate to me all firstborn”; Exo 22:29, “You shall not delay the firstfruits of your harvest”; 2Co 8:5, “they gave themselves first to the Lord.”
It is also worth mentioning that if this disciple had buried his father, he would have been unclean for a week (Num 19:11-22). The point is that when Christ gives us a command we must not let anything interrupt or hinder our obedience.
Does this word of Jesus seem very harsh to us? Verse 22 says that “Jesus said to him: Follow me; he lets the dead bury their dead”; that is, letting those who are spiritually dead bury those who are physically dead 1Ti 5:6 says, “But she who indulges in pleasure is dead while she lives.” Eph 2:1 says, “And he gave you life when you were dead in trespasses and sins.” Worldly obligations can be taken care of by the spiritually dead, but Jesus had given this disciple another more important duty: that of announcing the kingdom.
Some believe that the expression “let me go first and bury my father” means “let me take care of my elderly father until I die”, perhaps for a period of years. It is not possible to prove that this was the thought of Jesus.
Jesus knew this disciple, and he knew what he had to say to him. Compare the case of the rich young man. What Jesus said to this young man may also seem harsh to us, but the Good Physician knows when it is necessary to amputate a right hand and gouge out a right eye Mat 5:29-30; Matt 18:8-9).
Sometimes people believed that Jesus’ teaching was harsh. Joh 6:60; Joh 6:66, “When many of his disciples heard them, they said, This is a hard word; Who can hear it?… Since then many of his disciples turned back, And walked no more with him. Why did they say this? why did they go back? Because Jesus emphasized the spiritual and…