March 11

“But Jesus saith unto him, Follow me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:22

Here is an unbelieving father who is still living, and a son who thinks it would be better to go home and wait for his father’s death and burial before he begins to follow the Lord. Jesus counters this idea with the principle of letting the dead bury their dead. The “dead” here can only mean the spiritually dead, and by his words the Lord beckons the disciple to come away and leave burials to such people.

This in no way suggests that, for example, a new Chinese believer should not perform filial duties to his parents. Least of all should he be unmindful of their spiritual needs as they go to meet their God. What it stresses, rather, is the principle of letting the people of this world continue on with their unfinished business. Let us not wait until every earthly affair has been taken care of before coming to Christ. If we do, we may not have the time left to be Christians after all.