September 21, 2021 - Why So Harsh, Jesus?
Matthew 8:18-22, NIV - 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 dens and
birds 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.”
Of all
the seemingly harsh sayings of Jesus, this one ranks near the top. Is Jesus really asking the guy to forego
burying his dead father. This seems so
out of character for the same Jesus who shed tears for his dead friend Lazarus
even though He knew he was going to bring him back to life. From the time I first heard this story as
child, I have always thought that Jesus must be saying something that I did not
understand, but it would be years later before I gained some measure of
insight. Let’s take a closer look.
First, we
need to understand what is happening here.
Another spiritual teacher has just told Jesus, “I will follow you
wherever you go.” This is not a casual
statement. The teacher is saying to
Jesus, “I want you to mentor me.” Today,
we might call what is being talked about here as a full-time internship. This is a guy that wants to teach others what
Jesus is teaching him so he is asking Jesus to disciple him for an extended
time so that he can pursue that calling.
This is the way authoritative Rabbi’s extended their influence. They would take on disciples, teach and show
them everything they know, then send the disciples out to teach others. The guy feels a calling share the way of
Jesus.
Jesus
first response to this guy is essentially, “this is not as glamourous as it
seems; I often don’t have a proper bed on which to sleep.” We don’t know how the spiritual teacher who
asked the question responded because at this point, another disciple says, “Lord,
first let me go and bury my father.” It
is at this point that Jesus utters those seemingly harsh words, “Follow me, and
let the dead bury their own dead.” It is
at this moment that we need to hear the disciples request in its original
cultural context. “Let me bury my father”
was an Aramaic saying that wasn’t actually referring to an actual dead father,
but a sacred responsibility to take care of a father until he dies. Basically, the disciple is saying, “right
now, my responsibility is to take care of my Dad. Whenever that responsibility is over after
his death, I’ll come find you and pursue this calling then.” I wouldn’t call it an excuse (as some
commentators do), but rather an effort to “put it off” until later in life when
he is more free to roam the countryside with Jesus.
I have over the course of 27 years in pastoral
ministry heard about a handful of times similar comments made by people with
seemingly sincere intentions to follow a call, but to do so on a delayed
timeline. To my knowledge, none of those
people ever did pursue the calling that they put off until later. This helps us understand Jesus’s statement a
bit more. First, an authentic calling
is not a static thing, meaning it never changes so it will be available
whenever we get to it. Jesus’s response
implies an urgency; if the guy waits until his father dies, he will learn that
by that time, Jesus will have died too.
Jesus is saying that if you’re going to follow me, it has to be
now. The opportunity will be gone later.
But
still, there is this statement, “let the dead bury their own dead.” Who are the “dead” that will be burying the
dead. In other words, if this disciple
follows Jesus, who is going to take care of his Father? Billy Graham has stated that he believes that
Jesus is referring to the “spiritually dead,” and I think that fits in this
context. Jesus can get away with saying
that because he is, unlike any of us, in a position to judge who is spiritually
dead. For me, it’s enough to say that
there will always be a number of people around to carry out culturally expected
tasks because so few actually choose to drop such those responsibilities to
pursue an authentic calling from God.
When you are called by God, it is urgent and it should take
precedence. If God has called you, the
other stuff will get taken care of by someone else. Don’t.put.it.off.
Prayer: Jesus, may we sense the urgency and priority to
respond to your call for us. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for people who may be struggling to
pursue a call from God.
Song:
God's Calling You (In Christ Alone)
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