Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their dead” to emphasize the urgency and priority of following Him above all else, including family obligations and cultural expectations. His statement was not a denial of love or respect for family, but a direct challenge to delayed obedience.
“Then another of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’”
(Matthew 8:21–22)
The phrase “let me first go and bury my father” was likely a common expression. It may not have meant the father had just died, but rather that the man wanted to stay until his father’s eventual death before committing to follow Jesus. In either case, Jesus saw through the delay.
The first “dead” refers to the spiritually dead, those who are not following Christ. The second “dead” refers to the physically dead. Jesus was saying, in essence, let the spiritually dead take care of temporal matters; those who are alive to God must follow Him without hesitation.
Following Jesus requires full devotion:
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
(Matthew 10:37)
Jesus was not encouraging disrespect or abandonment, but obedience. The call to discipleship demands that nothing come before Christ, not even burial customs or family concerns.
This statement, though hard, teaches that when Jesus calls, our response must be immediate. Anything that delays or rivals our commitment to Him reveals where our priorities lie. Christ never lowered the cost of discipleship. He told the truth plainly:
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:62)
