But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Matthew 8:22 (CSB)
Yesterday a man asked Jesus to let him go and bury his father before he followed Him. This is Jesus’ answer.
Dead people cannot bury anyone, so Jesus is using the word “dead” in two ways. The Bible says that a person can be alive in body but dead toward God, which means not knowing Him and not able to come to Him on their own. Paul wrote, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). So Jesus is saying, let the people who are dead toward God take care of burying the people who have died, and the man should follow Jesus now.
Jesus is not against funerals, and He is not against taking care of our parents. God’s command to honor our father and mother still stands, and while Jesus was dying on the cross, He made sure His own mother would be cared for (John 19:26-27). Jesus says it sharply so that we will hear how much He is asking. He wants first place, even above the people we love most (Matthew 10:37).
So if what someone we love wants and what Jesus says ever pull in different directions, we ought to follow Jesus, and keep loving them while we do.
Jesus can ask for first place because He is the One who gives life. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Grace means God’s kindness we do not deserve, shown when Jesus died for our sins and rose again.