But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me;
and let the dead bury their dead. Matthew 8:22
Let the dead bury their dead
The flesh, let the fleshly be concerned for the flesh
This did not mean Jesus doesn’t want us
to be respectful when someone dies
At that moment in time, Jesus told several to follow Him
Leave the flesh behind
Leave the world behind
Follow Jesus
And every one that hath forsaken houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake,
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Matthew 19:29
In other words, put Jesus first
So many things we can get concerned with,
things in the world that will hinder our walk with Jesus
Let the dead bury their dead and follow Him
It is similar to the parable of the sower:
And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side,
and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:
and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
And when the sun was up, they were scorched;
and because they had no root, they withered away.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,
some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:3-9
Many parables and simple directives that Jesus spoke
demonstrated His requirement for us to keep Him as our first priority:
And he that taketh not his cross,
and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38
~And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough,
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62
~Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46
…went and sold all that he had and bought it.
~Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. John 14:6
~Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
Those who made it did not get tangled in the world,
They realized the importance of the things of the Kingdom
They valued Jesus and who He was and what He did for them