Let the Dead bury their own Dead

He (Jesus) said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."  Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:59-62 (NIV)

As I read these scripture portions, Christ's statements seemed very harsh, to the point of uncaring for the feelings of others. This did not seem to fit the Lord who taught to "respect your father and mother," and to "love your neighbor as yourself." Was he really telling these individuals whom he called, that they were unfit to serve God because one needed to bury his dead father and the other just wanted to inform his family of his whereabouts so that they wouldn't need to worry about him? Was this the same Lord who taught about compassion and love for others through his parable of the "Good Samaritan" in the following chapter 10 of Luke?  These teachings seemed contradictory.

Further along in chapter 10 of the book of Luke, we come across an incident in the house of Martha and Mary, two sisters.  "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to him and asked, " Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!"  "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, " you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-41.  I was reminded of Christ's answer to Satan who tempted him following his 40 days of fasting. Satan said to Christ, "If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread." But Jesus told him, "It is written [in Deuteronomy 8:3}: 'Man does not live on bread alone.' " Luke 4:3-4.

Reading through these scripture portions it became more clearer, it was not so much that Jesus was telling these people that caring for your family was not important, but wanted to emphasize what one's priority should be. One's priority should be to (read or) listen to the Word of God and obey it.  God emphasized this through the experience of the three disciples: Peter, James and John, during the "Transfiguration of Christ" and we read in Luke 9:35, "A voice came from the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.' "

God sent his Son into a sinful and perishing world so that we may find salvation through him - Christ.  It was the Father God's love towards this perishing world that held back His wrath as man brutalized his son - Jesus Christ - on Calvary's cross, treating him like a common criminal. To God, what is of utmost importance is that the sinful and perishing world would find salvation. When Jesus' disciples came back to him following a day of spreading the gospel and reported to him in amazement that they were able to heal the sick and cast out demons in his (Jesus') name, Jesus replied to them, "But don't rejoice just because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven." Luke 10:20. This is what God wants for you and I, to have the assurance that our names are registered as citizens of heaven. Do you have that assurance?

God wants every single man, woman and child to receive salvation. It was God's love for this world that resulted in the sacrifice of his son - Jesus. His compassion for a perishing world echoes in Jesus' instructions to his disciples as he sent them out, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few.  Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields."  "Go now," he said, "and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don't take along any money, or a traveler's bag, or even an extra pair of sandals.  And don't stop to greet anyone on the road." Luke 10:2-4.  He implored his disciples to go with a sense of urgency, to go with purpose and not have anything deter them from accomplishing God's ultimate desire - for every single human being to receive salvation!

God bless you!

 Mary did you know - Kathy Mattea