Luke 9:59-60

Luke 9:59-60

[59] And  he said  unto  another,  Follow  But  he said,  Lord,  suffer  first  to go  and bury  father.  [60] said  unto him,  Let  the dead  bury  their  dead:  but  go  thou  and preach  the kingdom  of God. 

What does Luke 9:59-60 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The first man came to Jesus requesting permission to follow Him. This one received a command from Jesus to follow Him in exactly the same words as Jesus used to call the Twelve (e.g, Luke 5:27).
"The expression "to follow" a Teacher would, in those days, be universally understood as implying discipleship." [1]
Matthew"s account has him approaching Jesus, but this was evidently after Jesus called him. Was the man"s father dead already, or was he in danger of dying? The text is not clear, and an answer to this question is not necessary. Clearly the man wanted Jesus to approve his postponing obedience in either case. Perhaps the man"s father was still living since in Israel people were usually buried the day they died. [2]
"But the words have an even greater urgency if the father was dead. The Jews counted proper burial as most important. The duty of burial took precedence over the study of the Law, the Temple service, the killing of the Passover sacrifice, the observance of circumcision and the reading of the Megillah (Megillah 3b)." [2]
The dead whom Jesus said should bury the dead probably were the spiritually dead who did not believe in Jesus. The mission of believers was more important than even discharging customary family obligations when these conflicted with discipleship responsibilities. It is hard to imagine how Jesus could have set forth the importance of immediate and wholehearted participation in God"s program more forcefully.