Matthew 8:21-22

Matthew 8:21-22

[21] And  another  of his  disciples  said  unto him,  Lord,  suffer  first  to go  and  bury  father.  [22] But  Jesus  unto him,  Follow  and  let  the dead  bury  their  dead. 

What does Matthew 8:21-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The first potential disciple was too quick when he promised wholehearted allegiance. This second potential disciple was too slow performing wholehearted allegiance.
Evidently this disciple made his request as Jesus prepared to depart for the next place of ministry ( Matthew 8:18). He apparently meant that he wanted some time off from being with Jesus to attend to family matters. Some students of this passage have concluded that the disciple"s father had not yet died and that he was asking for an indefinite leave of absence from Jesus" company. [1] Others believe that he had already died. [2] In either case the disciple wanted to drop out temporarily.
Jesus" reply urged the disciple to keep following Him, not to suspend his commitment to Jesus. He should put his commitment to Jesus even before his commitment to honor his parents ( Exodus 20:12). When following Jesus and other commitments conflict, the disciple must always follow Jesus even though his or her other commitments are legitimate. Jesus was testing this man"s priorities. Which was more important to him, following Jesus and participating in whatever Jesus" will for him might involve or abandoning Jesus even temporarily for some less important purpose? His was not a choice between something good and something evil but between something good and something better (cf. Matthew 10:37).
Jesus continued by encouraging the disciple to let the dead bury the dead. Apparently He meant, let the spiritually dead (i.e, those who have no interest in following Jesus) bury the physically dead. There are many worthy activities in life that a true disciple of Jesus must forgo because he or she has a higher calling and higher demands on him or her. Forgoing these activities may bring criticism on the disciple from the spiritually insensitive, but that is part of the price of discipleship (cf. Matthew 7:13-27). Jesus called for commitment to Himself without reservation. The person and mission of the King deserve nothing less.
"It is better to preach the Gospel and give life to the spiritually dead than to wait for your father to die and bury him." [3]
"A disciple"s business is with life, not with death." [4]