Matthew 8:22
‘But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”’
This verse has always made me feel uncomfortable. The man’s request to buy his father seems reasonable. The best I can say is that God knew his heart. I would say that this was an excuse to put of following Jesus.
Jesus is contrasting duties. Dealing with earthly responsibilities and heavenly ones. The heavenly ones take precedent. This comparison reminds me of Mary and Martha. Jesus had come to their house for a visit. Mary was at Jesus’ feet listening to Him, while Martha was busy in the kitchen preparing for the meal. Out of frustration, Martha marches out and asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her. Luke 10:41,42 has Jesus’ response, ‘But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”’ This doesn’t mean that preparation isn’t important, just that some acts are better.
While this might not settle things for some, we have to give our questions to God and trust that He knows what He’s doing. Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” We need to trust Him even when things don’t make sense. Move on and put the doubts out of our minds.
The second part of the proverbs passage says, “in all your ways acknowledge Him”. This includes the ways we are confident about and the ones we aren’t. Just toss up a prayer, “Lord give me wisdom and guidance here”. He wants us to do that.
I can recall someone saying that he didn’t want to burden God with menial requests. Part of me understands that. We are to be responsible and hard working. But God wants us to ask of Him. Jesus says in John 16:24, “Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” It sounds like we are falling short of asking. We need to do it more.
We are to obey Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways. That’s a petition. We may have a responsibility to bury the dead. He will give us wisdom.
We aren’t to be lazy and put off our responsibilities. We are to do them diligently and with a good attitude. Some may use today’s passage as a reason to ignore them. That’s not the point. If we are ignoring responsibilities for spiritual reasons, then we should be willing to face the consequences. If this is of God He will take care of us and we shouldn’t worry. We shouldn’t complain, but be accepting and happy we were obedient.
In our choosing the spiritual first, we may anger others. Martha was upset with Mary. We should be understanding and sympathetic, but not repentant. We chose wisely. If it comes down to it, we should say so. But be understanding.
Thank You, Lord, for Your Word and Your guidance. Help us to walk in obedience. Help us to choose wisely.