We are looking at the cost of discipleship. We all call ourselves believers, and each believer is a follower of Christ; they are not different. The work of the church is to preach the Gospel and make disciples. Our Lord in Matthew makes us examine and ask ourselves: “Are you a true disciple? Have we settled in our hearts that we are willing to follow him, no matter what the cost?” There is a cost that each of us has to pay to follow Christ. Are we paying that cost? Every true disciple will pay it.
In Matthew 8, we see three kinds of disciples, one of which is also in Luke. I call them superficial disciples—comfort seekers, those who seek riches, and those who seek fame. Christ disqualifies them as disciples. They are false disciples, not fit for following him.
Last week, we saw the first kind of disciple: the comfort seeker. Everything he said and did seemed right; no one could detect anything wrong with him. But the piercing eye of Christ saw his heart. Jesus knows the idols of each of your hearts and knows perfectly what is hindering each of us from following him and what is competing in our hearts with affection for him. He saw this man’s idol, and his response to this man—”Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”—revealed that this man was seeking worldly comforts. Jesus was saying, “Don’t come to me seeking that. A true disciple doesn’t come to Christ for worldly comforts.” By this motive, he revealed that he was a false disciple. This man, looking at the miracles of Christ, was trying to come to Christ out of emotions, ignorance, and self-will. There is no use for such disciples. We saw that the man did not respond and may have immediately left Christ after hearing this.
Second Disciples: The Personal Worldly Riches Seeker
The first disciple did not get to enter the kingdom because he wanted personal comfort. The second one wanted personal riches. We read in Matthew 8:21-22:
Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first permit me to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
The scribe was rejected by Christ as a follower because he made his offer without consideration and imagined that he would enjoy an easy life. The person whom Christ retains had an opposite fault. He was prevented from immediately obeying the call of Christ by the weakness of thinking it a hardship to leave his father.
“And another of his disciples,” the word disciple is not an official word. It simply means “learner” or “follower,” and at this particular point, he has a lot of people following him on different levels. And another one of these followers said to him, “Lord, permit me to go first and bury my father.” You might say, “Well, that sounds like a reasonable request, right?” He wanted to follow Christ as he was going into the boat, but when he stepped in, he may have heard that his father had died. You can’t just leave an old man lying around dead; you have to get him in the ground. It is the proper thing to do.
The Jews didn’t embalm, and there were no freezers in those days, so when somebody died, you really had to get him in the ground fast. This is not something that you could put off. On the other hand, the Jews used to teach that you needed to mourn for your father and mother for 30 days when they died, so maybe he was saying, “I just need a month to get my act together.” Even some companies give a bereavement leave for a week. No manager or company will tell you that you have to come to work when your father dies. Even in other countries, they will allow you to return to your home country. By the way, in Genesis, it tells us that the last responsibility of a son in his final act of devotion to his parents was to make sure that he cared for their burial. That is a part of every culture. It is an important responsibility of a son to his father. It is considered a sacred responsibility of children. It’s a very lovely thing to do. In any culture, one of the greatest duties of a man is to go and bury his father. If he doesn’t do that, what kind of man is he?
Nature says, “Go,” and the Old Testament supports it, and everything seems to say that it is the right thing for a man to do. The man was perfectly sincere in his request and perfectly sincere in the implied promise that as soon as the funeral was over, he would come back. He meant it wholeheartedly. So we have here a disciple who is quite sincere, who believes himself to have already obeyed in spirit and only to be hindered from obeying in outward act by an imperative duty that even a barbarian would know to be imperative.
And so it sounds like a very reasonable request. If someone asked me, “Oh, how sad,” I would offer my sincere condolences and tell them, “Please do it, and take your time. Don’t come to church for a month; please do everything, and when you are okay, then come.” Such an important responsibility. See how easy it is to be deceived by people and even by this man. Their statements are so sincere; people cannot figure out anything and immediately take them as members. That is why today’s church is filled with all kinds of superficial disciples. But the Lord is wiser and knows the man’s heart.
Verse 22: “But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'”
Wow. Nobody but he alone can say that to such a person. It sounds so rude in its tone and words, unlike our Lord. Our loving Lord never talks like this to an affectionate son who wants to perform the last duties to his father. It seems to say, “Let the dead world go as it will; never you mind it; don’t care about it.” Can you imagine going to a funeral and saying, “Let the dead bury their dead, and come join our church and follow Christ and preach the Gospel”? It sounds rude.
He alone can say that because he has every right to. If it is your father’s funeral at home, you still have to follow me. But there’s a lot more here than meets the eye, because the phrase, “I must first go and bury my father,” is a colloquial phrase that appears in the Middle East even today and even in our country. A son may say, “I want to go to America.” A mother may say, “Wait till I die and then go.” This doesn’t mean she will die today. It is a common saying in Asian countries.
Recently, a missionary named Dr. Waldmeyer was conversing with a rich young Turk. He believed in Christ, and Waldmeyer advised this Turk to go on a certain trip to Europe with him. He thought he could disciple him and accomplish certain things with him, and after he finished his education, he would go along, to which the Turk replied, “I must first of all bury my father.” And the missionary Waldmeyer said, “Oh, young man, I had no idea he’d died. I am just so sorry. I hope I wasn’t insensitive.” He said, “Oh no. He isn’t dead. He’s not dead. That’s just a phrase we use. My father is very much alive. I just have to stick around and fulfill my responsibility until he passes on. And only then, of course, will I receive my inheritance.” “Oh, I see,” the missionary must have thought. “‘I must first go and bury my father, who isn’t even dead,’ means, ‘I’ve been waiting a long time for my inheritance. Can I just hang around? The guy is tottering at this point and will soon pass away, and then all the inheritance will be mine. And when I get it all, think of how I can be used in the movement.'” The man had riches on his mind. His father wasn’t even dead. This is a man who wants all the riches he can get in the world and, at the same time, follow Christ. He’s not ready to give up any worldly riches for following Christ. There is no self-denial. He wants to serve both Mammon and God.
Many commentators say this is the meaning. But even if it is not the meaning, Jesus’s demand is clear. Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.” At first, it seems nonsensical. How can dead people bury dead people? What does this mean? See the wisdom of our Lord in his words. To bring great truths home in a solid, concrete form to sluggish understandings, he says it in a picturesque way: “Let the dead bury their dead.”
This reveals the sad truth of humanity. When God said to Adam, “If you eat this fruit, you will die,” every man born to Adam on this earth is born spiritually dead. As Ephesians 2 says, “You were dead in your sins and transgressions.” For the men in the world who are separated from God, and so are dead in their selfhood and their sin, there is no sense of their duty to God. They are born, they grow, they earn money, they eat, they live, and they die. They have no sense of duty to God; they are dead to God. What can dead people do for a dead body? If you lift its hand, it will fall down. If you shout and cry, it will not hear you. That is the state of every natural man in this world. With regard to God and the kingdom, they cannot do anything. Think of it: the entire world around us is dead. All the people we see walking around are like dead bodies walking. There is no life of God in them, and they cannot do anything spiritual.
The Lord here is saying, “Let the spiritually dead bury their physically dead.” It’s a proverb. “Let the dead bury their dead.” Let the spiritually dead bury their physical dead, and then Luke adds in the parallel passage, “Go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:60: “And he said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'”
What he’s saying is, “Look, this is a proverb again, just like the one about the foxes and birds. The first one meant, ‘Look, I don’t have any personal comforts.’ This one means, ‘Let spiritually dead people bury their dead.'” Let the dead world take care of its dead things. These are all dead before God. Their whole life has no eternal value. Everything is going toward the dead world and will perish. You have realized that you have an eternal soul. That soul is more valuable than the entire world. Jesus said, “What will a man gain if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” What a weighty statement! The value of the soul is something that even Jesus couldn’t estimate.
If you sell the entire world, even 10,000 worlds, you cannot buy a soul. You have that treasure in you. The whole world is so dead; there is no sense of that soul. It is worse than an old broken slipper to them. There is no care. They are dead in their souls.
If God’s living word has given you life in your soul, you go and preach about the living, eternal kingdom of God and work for eternal souls. Everything in this world is dead, a stinking and rotting world. Has God opened your eyes to see that this is a great graveyard? The only thing that will have eternal consequences is what you do for the kingdom. Go do that work. That is the most important duty, above every other important duty in this world. Forget about the inheritance, even if your father was actually dead, and you had to go. It is even fine if the important duty of burying your father is skipped.
The dead system will take care of the dead things. These dead people can never do the work of the living, eternal kingdom of God. If you are alive, you have been called to the kingdom of God. Go and preach the kingdom and do eternal things. Your business, as someone made alive by me, is to carry life through my words, with which you can give eternal life to eternally dead people. Leave the burying to the dead people who can do nothing else. Which is the greater work? Burying the dead, which even dead people can do, or giving eternal life to dead souls since you have been made alive?
He who understands the greatest honor of following Christ and the greatest honor of preaching the Gospel will know that Christ is right. One preacher was asked to become the president of America, but he said, “God has called me to preach the Gospel. I cannot get down to become president.” He understood the glory of Gospel preaching. Even angels are not given that privilege. In grace, Christ bestows such an honorable office on a man who was still so weak.
See the difference? What he’s saying is, “You are functioning on the wrong level.” What do you lose if you are called for the kingdom but run after the dead things? He’s not saying Christians are forbidden to go to funerals. He’s not saying if you’re a Christian, you’re not supposed to make sure your father or mother gets buried. It’s a proverb, and what he means is that the world’s passing affairs, the coming and going of people, and the passing of fortunes from one to another are all part of a dead system. You are called to a living kingdom; go and preach the kingdom.
A person who understands the glory of the kingdom and their great calling by God will know that even if their father is really dead, that is not an excuse. No worldly duty should hinder us from doing the work of the kingdom. Everything should yield to the kingdom’s work. This is the greatest calling and duty for his disciples.
So should I not take care of worldly things? Should I not fulfill my responsibilities at work and for my family? You should, but the real problem with this man and many nominal Christians is his first words: “First, let me go.” These are not the words of a real disciple. You shall have no other God before me. If you do not hate your father, mother, sister, and even your own life, you cannot be my disciple. I should be the first priority, and everything else should come after that. That is what a disciple is. The question is, am I a true disciple or a superficial disciple? Our conscience should speak to us. What is the first place we give in our life?
Priorities reveal the true state of our hearts. Jesus’s command to a man who wanted to “bury his father first” teaches us a crucial lesson: all worldly responsibilities, no matter how important they seem, must come second to following Christ. This man’s request, a phrase used to represent any worldly duty that hinders us from kingdom work, became an excuse that prevented him from true discipleship.
The Peril of Superficial Discipleship
Jesus confronted three kinds of superficial disciples, each with their own excuse for not following Him wholeheartedly. These are the comfort-seekers, riches-seekers, and name-and-fame-seekers. They admire Jesus, His words, and His miracles, but they are not willing to come on His terms.
- Comfort-Seekers: These people are attracted by the excitement and blessings but are unwilling to face the discomforts and sacrifices of discipleship. They want to add Jesus to their lives without disrupting their established patterns.
- Riches-Seekers: Like the man who wanted to bury his father, these individuals prioritize their worldly possessions and financial security over Christ. They are willing to follow Him, but only after they have secured their earthly wealth. This is self-deception, as there will always be another “unavoidable” duty to attend to.
- Name-and-Fame-Seekers: These people want to follow Christ but are unwilling to risk their reputation, family relationships, or social standing. They want to have a good name with their family and society while also being a disciple. Jesus’s warning that He came to bring a “sword” to separate people from their own households is a direct rebuke to this mindset.
These three types of people are not fit for the kingdom of God. They are just admirers, not true disciples. Their primary motives are for worldly gain, not for Christ. True disciples are those who come to Him poor in spirit, mourning for their sins, meek, and hungering for righteousness.
The Test of True Commitment
True discipleship is about placing Christ first in every aspect of life. It’s about being willing to give up everything for His sake—comforts, riches, and reputation. It’s not about physically abandoning these things but about being willing to do so if Christ demands it. This willingness is the affirmation of His Lordship in your life.
The great irony of life is that the very things people refuse to give up for Christ are what they end up losing. Conversely, those who are willing to lose their lives for His sake are the ones who truly find life. Moses is an example of this; he chose the reproach of Christ over the treasures of Egypt, knowing that following Christ was of greater value.
So, ask yourself these questions:
- Am I willing to follow Christ even if it means losing all comfort?
- Am I willing to follow Christ even if it means losing all my riches?
- Am I willing to follow Christ even if it means losing my reputation and being mocked by others?
If you can say “yes,” then you have the makings of a true soldier of Christ. Discipleship today is often cheapened, with many unwilling to suffer even a “toothache” for their faith. But true disciples believe that a relationship with Jesus is enough and that the eternal glory to come will make up for any sacrifice. This is what it means to be truly born again—to have a heart that is enabled by God’s grace to see that Jesus is worth everything.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 