Our Just Obligation
R. W. Dale, LL. D. Luke 9:59-60 And he said to another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.… These words seem at first harsh and severe. Our Lord's teaching gives no sanction, however, to the monstrous error that the new life releases men from obligations which they may have found irksome. The common relations of life are a discipline whereby we are trained to spiritual perfection. What did our Lord say, and under what circumstances? 1. The man probably heard of his father's death when he was with Christ, and wanted to return to the funeral. But the father was dead, and the son could do nothing for him now. If he had neglected him in life, he could not now repair the neglect. 2. Still you say natural affection impels a man to discharge the last offices of love. Yes; but there are reasons which justify a man in being absent from his father's funeral. This was a very solemn and critical time. The man appears to have been selected as one of the seventy; and if he had gone home, he would have been detained some days by the ceremonial law; his purpose might have been weakened; so even in the hour of his grief he is commanded to do this great service, 3. "Let the dead bury their dead." Does this show contempt for the unspiritual? No; our Lord never spoke with contemptuous indifference of such; it was his very eagerness that they should rise to a new and better life that led Him to call this man away. 4. The whole narrative suggests that critical moments in a man's life bring critical duties. If God is near us now in a very special and solemn manner, then that principle enters our life and regulates our duty. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. WEB: He said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."