Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

 

- Matthew 8:18-27 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were told that, after preaching the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities /And bore our sicknesses."

 

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   My study Bible comments that since the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it expresses both Christ's humanity and His divinity.  Here it refers to His human condition; in Matthew 25:31-33 it describes His divine authority.  

Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."   My study Bible comments that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but is teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as the highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.

 

 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  Christ's mastery over creation is another sign given that He is the Messiah and is divine.  My study Bible points out that commands which are given to the sea and waves could only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11, Psalms 66:5-6, 107:29).  We get the true paradox of Christ when we observe that He was asleep because, as fully human, He needed rest.   Therefore we understand that in His Incarnation, He assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, one of which is the need for sleep.  The image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study Bible says that God both permits storms and delivers us thorugh them, so that we can see His protection more clearly.  His rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.

In yesterday's reading, we were given several examples of Christ healing others immediately after preaching the Sermon on the Mount.  In those examples of healing, we noted the essential quality of faith that was present and exemplified in various ways both in those who were healed or in their friends and loved ones.  Today's reading further examines components of faith.  We can see that this deeper examination and elucidation of faith takes place as great crowds begin to gather around Jesus.  It's like we are gradually taken on a deeper journey to find what really matters here.  First there is the man who says, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus replies with a warning about the costs of discipleship:  "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Even the Messiah, the Son of Man, has nowhere to lay His head; are we ready to follow that?  Another disciple tells Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus responds with the power of discipleship and its cost, that it will draw a line that goes through the world in ways we don't expect, even separating us from what (and whom) we love:  "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  What does it mean that the rest are dead?  It's not a comment about the man's father whom he wishes to honor, but about those whom he's left behind in following Christ.  This choice is about honoring the Kingdom first.  The following story is clearly about faith and discipleship.  It's only a few short verses, but it manages to teach us at once that Jesus shares full humanity with the disciples (as He is sleeping), and that faith will sometimes take us through great and threatening storms in life.  As my study Bible comments, it is Christ who will both lead us through storms and bring us through them.  So important is the element of faith to our lives, that this has been the perspective and experience of the Church throughout its history.  It is highly important that we remember this when we go through our own storms.  If we look at the parallel history of the Old Testament, in which Israel wandered in the wilderness (and crossed the sea), we can see a similar story:  that God led them to and through difficulties in a long period of wandering, with struggles, doubts, and all the rest of the things we go through in wrestling with our faith.  But that story, and this one in today's reading, really give us a message about our struggles:  that it just may be God leading us through them to teach us a deeper dependency, a stronger and fuller faith within ourselves.  In a consumer-oriented and prosperous world, where we are quite constantly bombarded with the message that life is simply for enjoyment and seeming perfection is attainable, we are unlikely to comprehend the reality of such a struggle and even a God-allowed challenge.  But this is the nature of life in an imperfect world, and we're given a purpose and meaning in our faith, even through the hardships.  Let us go through our storms -- with Him.  And we will see where we come out on the other side, through discipleship which challenges us to grow in our faith.  Sometimes that faith will even challenge our deepest relationships, and sometimes we will face our greatest fears.  Let us note this includes elements we hear often in modern stories of trauma:  even abandonment, neglect, and isolation or loneliness.  One thing is certain in the meaning of today's reading:  that through all things, Christ is always present with us.  And through the Incarnation He has shared all of it with us already.   The hard things of life may provide us with the best opportunity to turn and draw closer to God, and to deepen our faith.