Rose, I'm just taking this portion from Luke 9:57-62, which sees Jesus speaking to three men about following Him in ministry. To the first man, Jesus challenges him that this lifestyle will be rough going without any certainty of shelter. Will you still follow Me? We assume that this man turned back.
Then Jesus asks another, "Follow Me". But his response was, "Give me leave to first bury my father". Here we see the urgency of the ministry: this man wanted to spend time with his father, maybe he was already in old age, & then after his death, the man would follow Jesus. But Jesus' Words, 'let the dead bury their dead' might seem harsh to us, but the urgency of the ministry is before him. One cannot wait for a loved to die, or for the kids to grow up & be married, or even enjoy some relaxing holidays as a family, before answering the call to serve; though losing a loved one is both sad & important, the call to serve in the Gospel is of greater importance. So leave your father with those who don't have the love of God in their hearts nor any desire to serve God: they will look after him & his eventual funeral arrangements.
Then the next man gave the excuse to go first to his house to bid farewell to his loved ones. This seems like a proper thing to do & shouldn't take too long. But Jesus seeing his heart, knew that procrastination often leads to nothing being accomplished. This man would spend many days seeing & fare-welling everybody - then there will be those who would challenge him if this was the right thing to do - think of your grieving family, your profession, your future marriage, etc. It wouldn't take much to convince him to weaken his desire to follow Jesus as "he looks back at what could have been his in this life".
The call of the Lord requires a sincere willingness & singleness of heart & purpose to be effective in the Kingdom.
Then Jesus asks another, "Follow Me". But his response was, "Give me leave to first bury my father". Here we see the urgency of the ministry: this man wanted to spend time with his father, maybe he was already in old age, & then after his death, the man would follow Jesus. But Jesus' Words, 'let the dead bury their dead' might seem harsh to us, but the urgency of the ministry is before him. One cannot wait for a loved to die, or for the kids to grow up & be married, or even enjoy some relaxing holidays as a family, before answering the call to serve; though losing a loved one is both sad & important, the call to serve in the Gospel is of greater importance. So leave your father with those who don't have the love of God in their hearts nor any desire to serve God: they will look after him & his eventual funeral arrangements.
Then the next man gave the excuse to go first to his house to bid farewell to his loved ones. This seems like a proper thing to do & shouldn't take too long. But Jesus seeing his heart, knew that procrastination often leads to nothing being accomplished. This man would spend many days seeing & fare-welling everybody - then there will be those who would challenge him if this was the right thing to do - think of your grieving family, your profession, your future marriage, etc. It wouldn't take much to convince him to weaken his desire to follow Jesus as "he looks back at what could have been his in this life".
The call of the Lord requires a sincere willingness & singleness of heart & purpose to be effective in the Kingdom.
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