18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:18-22)
Here we see that a scribe, a teacher of the law, came to the Lord Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” The Lord Jesus said to him: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” The Lord Jesus knows everything, he preached everywhere and had no fixed residence, he knew that this scribe could not take this hardship. The Lord Jesus called another disciple to follow him, he said: “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” The Lord Jesus said: “let the dead bury their own dead.” If a person doesn’t have spiritual life, doesn’t have a new life, he is like a dead man in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord Jesus said that let the dead bury their own dead and asked him to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:61-62)
This parallel passage says that another disciple wanted to follow the Lord but wanted to say goodbye to his family first. The Lord Jesus said: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” The Lord asked him to concentrate on plowing the field and not look back. If he looked back, the plow would not be straight. The Lord wanted him to follow Him wholeheartedly and preach the Kingdom of God without being distracted.
May God bless you and your family.
