LUKE 9:59-60 (NIV)
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.” Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s Kingdom!” (The Message)
Today I wanted to write on a scripture that has always really bothered me to the point where I thought the translation must be wrong. I checked different translations and all of them basically say the same thing whether it's the NIV or The Message. In Luke 9: 59-60 Jesus tells a man not to go bury his father. Having been extremely close to my dad I can't imagine a loving God telling me I couldn't bury him. Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary warns us about 3 temptations we must deal with when becoming a disciple of Jesus. One is not seeking a close, constant relationship with Jesus. Another is putting off discipleship until we have become successful and have a nice bank account to fall back on. The third is waiting until our family is secure, our children are grown, or my parents are dead and buried.
When I look at this admonition in view of these temptations it seems correct. We must not put anything before our duty to God. God does take care of our needs, this I know first hand (another perk of being around for more than half a century).
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