Bible Discussion Thread

What is meant by "et their dead bury the dead"

Hi Marie.

Let's take it from verse 56 to get the context.

Luke 9:56-62.

For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

The people of the world are those whom the Savior describes here as the (spiritually) dead who should bury the (physically) dead. Let people, He says, who are not interested in My work, and who are "dead in sin" ( Ephesians 2:1), take care of the dead. Your duty is now to follow Me.

Some hold the view that the man's father has not died yet and what the man is saying let me go take care of my father until he dies, being he was the first born.

"Jesus I will follow you but first let me stay with my father, until he dies. I am not sure how long that will take but once that happens then I will bury him. When that is done then I will come and follow you."

Also, this man may have been consideringhis inheritance. It's possible this man was waiting to claim his inheritance from his father. So, he wasn't just saying he wanted to wait until his father died. He was also saying - Lord I have some inheritance coming to me and I want to secure my financial future. Once that happens, I will be ready and at that time I will come and follow you. It was a matter of priority.

I hope this helps.

God bless.

Marie Francis,

In Luke 9:60, Jesus said, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

He wouldn't even let him bury his father. That is kind of tough! Well, we know from the scriptures, in Deuteronomy 21:23, it tells us that once a person died, they had to be buried before sunset, on the day of the death.



So if this man's father had already died, he would not be out listening to the teachings of Jesus. He would be attending the funeral and burying his father.



But rather, as Matthew's account tells us, that the phrase itself in the Greek text represents the Hebraism, that basically it says "let me go back until my father dies so I get my inheritance."



You see, in those days you stayed around the house. And when the father died, then you took over. You took over the business, and you took over the estate.



And what he is saying is "I'm really not free to leave. I have got some financial interests that I cannot leave. You see if I leave now, I leave all my inheritance, and so I can't do that!"



Please notice what's happening here. Jesus is fixed towards Jerusalem. He is telling the disciples that you get fixed on Jesus and you follow Him.

But look at all the things that challenge that relationship. You have got conveniences. It's like, "Gee, I have waited my whole life to get the inheritance from my father, and now Jesus is asking me to follow Him, and if I do I am going to lose all that inheritance."

Yup! Let the spiritual dead bury their own dead. You go preach the Kingdom.