Mat 8:21-22 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 21. Another of his disciples ] This does not mean any of the twelve , but one of those who were constant hearers of our Lord's preaching; the name of disciple being common to all those who professed to believe in him, . Bury my father : probably his father was old, and apparently near death; but it was a maxim among the Jews, that, if a man had any duty to perform to the dead , he was, for that time, free from the observance of any other precept or duty. The children of Adam are always in extremes; some will rush into the ministry of the Gospel without a call , others will delay long after they are called; the middle way is the only safe one: not to move a finger in the work till the call be given, and not to delay a moment after.

‏ Matthew 8:21-22

Verse 21. Another of his disciples] This does not mean any of the twelve, but one of those who were constant hearers of our Lord's preaching; the name of disciple being common to all those who professed to believe in him, Joh 6:66. Bury my father: probably his father was old, and apparently near death; but it was a maxim among the Jews, that, if a man had any duty to perform to the dead, he was, for that time, free from the observance of any other precept or duty. The children of Adam are always in extremes; some will rush into the ministry of the Gospel without a call, others will delay long after they are called; the middle way is the only safe one: not to move a finger in the work till the call be given, and not to delay a moment after.

Verse 22. Let the dead bury their dead.] It was usual for the Jews to consider a man as dead who had departed from the precepts of the law; and, on this ground, every transgressor was reputed a dead man. Our Lord's saying, being in common use, had nothing difficult in it to a Jew. Natural death is the separation of the body and soul; spiritual death, the separation of God and the soul: men who live in sin are dead to God. Leave the spiritually dead to bury their natural dead. All the common offices of life may be performed by any person; to preach the glad tidings of the kingdom of God is granted but to a few, and to these only by an especial call; these should immediately abandon worldly concerns and employments, and give themselves wholly up to the work of the ministry.