Let the Dead Bury Their Dead
Luke 9:60 – “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
This verse comes during a series of interactions Jesus has with individuals who express a desire to follow Him but have personal commitments or reservations. One man tells Jesus that he wishes to follow Him but first needs to bury his father. Jesus’s response is striking: “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
At first glance, this may seem harsh or insensitive, but Jesus is making a powerful point about the priorities of discipleship and the urgency of the Kingdom of God.
When Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their dead,” He uses a figure of speech. The “dead” Jesus refers to are the spiritually dead—those who have not embraced the life that Jesus offers through His message of salvation and the Kingdom of God. Burying the dead, while a respectful and important duty in Jewish culture, was still a temporal concern. Jesus emphasized that the call to follow Him and proclaim the Kingdom takes precedence over everything else, even the most important societal and familial obligations.
Jesus was calling this man to a higher commitment. In the Kingdom of God, the urgency of spreading the Gospel and living out God’s purposes must come first. It’s not that Jesus is dismissing the man’s love for his father or the importance of family; rather, He’s drawing attention to the spiritual life that needs to be prioritized above all else.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus often highlights the immediacy of the Kingdom of God. Time is short, and the message of the Gospel must be preached without delay. By telling the man to “go and preach the Kingdom of God,” Jesus invites him to participate in the most important work—proclaiming the good news of God’s reign and His offer of eternal life.
This urgency reminds all followers of Christ that while earthly responsibilities are important, they must not take priority over the calling to share the life-transforming message of the Kingdom. Jesus wants His followers to be fully committed and willing to leave behind anything hindering their devotion to Him and the mission of spreading His message.
In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus encounters several individuals who express interest in following Him, but each has a “but first” condition. Some want to tend to family matters, while others want to handle personal affairs. Jesus’s responses to each person reveal the cost of discipleship—it requires an undivided heart and a willingness to make Him the absolute priority.
For this man in verse 60, the request to bury his father may have meant more than just attending a funeral. In Jewish tradition, burial was a two-step process involving a primary burial and a secondary burial a year later when the bones were gathered into an ossuary. The man may have been asking for an indefinite delay in following Jesus. In essence, Jesus tells him not to wait for a more convenient time—there is no time to lose when preaching the Kingdom of God.
Author
Barbara Schobl-Legee
Barbara Schobl-Legee, raised in a military family from Florida, journeyed across the United States, embracing diverse faith experiences.
Baptized into the Baptist faith, she later became an ordained Pentecostal Holiness preacher and served as an Associate Pastor at Gospel Tabernacle and Antioch Southern Baptist Church.
Marrying into a Catholic family, Barbara and her husband found common ground in the Episcopal Church, where she now serves as a Licensed Lay Preacher in the Diocese of Central Florida.
Her fascination with prophecy, dating back to 2008, led her to pen four books on the subject. In promoting her prophecy books, she earned the title of international author, reaching readers in the U.K., Australia, and Canada.
Additionally, she's an international speaker and Bible teacher, sharing insights and teachings with Kenyan women via Messenger.