Creekside Church, March 7, 2021
Let The Dead Bury The Dead
Jesus begins with a simple invitation: “Follow Me”. It’s the invitation into a journey that will challenge nearly everything we believe.
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Sunday 9:00 AM
Follow Me | Let The Dead Bury The Dead
Luke 9:57-62
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
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.”
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Notice Luke 9:51. This detail helps us understand why Jesus' words are so blunt/direct here.
Luke 9:51 - As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
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Notice all of the repetition in the Luke 9:57-62 passage. Repetition is one of the primary tools the biblical authors use to get our attention.
Follow - vs. 57, 59, 61
Lord - vs. 59, 61
First - vs. 59, 61
Kingdom - vs. 60, 62
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The first man who comes up to Jesus was eager. Based on Jesus' response, he was a little too eager and had likely gotten the wrong idea about what it would be like to follow Jesus.
The third man thought he could both follow Jesus while living in the past. Jesus' reaction reveals to us that we can't move forward while looking back.
The second man receives the harsh words, "Let the dead bury their own dead." This may have meant the man was in the process of burying his father which could take up to a year. Or, he may be waiting for his father to die. Whichever is the case, he was likely waiting to settle things back home and collect his inheritance before following Jesus.
“Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
1) Jesus is comparing the man's request with Jesus' call to follow him and do what he is doing, which is to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus' harsh words show us that there is no comparison. When he calls, nothing can trump that.
2) Jesus also is contrasting death and life here.
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Questions for Reflection:
1. What other things are competing for your first?
2. What funeral are you stuck at?
3. What good excuse are you hiding behind?
4. What's at stake in delaying to follow Jesus?
Luke 9:57-62
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
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.”
---
Notice Luke 9:51. This detail helps us understand why Jesus' words are so blunt/direct here.
Luke 9:51 - As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
---
Notice all of the repetition in the Luke 9:57-62 passage. Repetition is one of the primary tools the biblical authors use to get our attention.
Follow - vs. 57, 59, 61
Lord - vs. 59, 61
First - vs. 59, 61
Kingdom - vs. 60, 62
---
The first man who comes up to Jesus was eager. Based on Jesus' response, he was a little too eager and had likely gotten the wrong idea about what it would be like to follow Jesus.
The third man thought he could both follow Jesus while living in the past. Jesus' reaction reveals to us that we can't move forward while looking back.
The second man receives the harsh words, "Let the dead bury their own dead." This may have meant the man was in the process of burying his father which could take up to a year. Or, he may be waiting for his father to die. Whichever is the case, he was likely waiting to settle things back home and collect his inheritance before following Jesus.
“Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
1) Jesus is comparing the man's request with Jesus' call to follow him and do what he is doing, which is to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus' harsh words show us that there is no comparison. When he calls, nothing can trump that.
2) Jesus also is contrasting death and life here.
---
Questions for Reflection:
1. What other things are competing for your first?
2. What funeral are you stuck at?
3. What good excuse are you hiding behind?
4. What's at stake in delaying to follow Jesus?