21: This disciple is asking something that we will not immediately understand. The disciple’s father was not, just then, dead. For one thing, if that were the case, he would likely have already left to bury him. Also, it can be seen by how the man made his request that the father was not yet dead. He does not say, ‘let me go bury my father’. Instead, he says, ‘let me first’, meaning, ‘before I follow you’. So, we see that this man is not simply asking permission to go bury a dead man.
It was, in Jewish custom, a very honorable thing for the son, especially the eldest, to be involved in the father’s death. Indeed, many Jewish sons would not venture from home until after the death of their father. There was even a practice of a second burial, after the decay of the flesh, in which the son, a year after the first, would bury the father’s bones by interring them in a box and placing them in the family tomb. This disciple could even have had this second burial in mind.
Either way, the key is that this man was not simply asking for a few days to go bury a dead man. he was asking for an uncertain period of time to wait for his aged or sickly father to die. Or, he was asking for time to go and perform the second burial. In each case, the need to care for the dead is not the main point. Delaying his following of Christ in order to honor his father by staying home until his death was what was in mind here.
Daily Bible Reading: Daniel 10:1-Hosea 1:11
Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:23 “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
Daily Tidbit: It is a good idea to look back ever once in a while to see where you have been spiritually. If you have personal notes, or studies you have done in the past, pull them out and look them over again. It can be a big encouragement.
Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for knowing what we need. It is amazing that someone so great, good, and perfect could be so intimately familiar with our weaknesses. It jut goes to show Your love for us. Every interaction with You reveals Your glory a little more. We come to realize that any perceived lack in You is not a lack in You at all, but a lack in our knowledge of You. When we look to You with a new set of problems, we find You have a new set of mercies waiting for us. How can we thank You enough for being so kind to us? Help us to live for You. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.
Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for two couples who will be travelling in the next few days. Pray for a woman with severe health issues.
Personal Journal Entry #12260