Let the Dead bury their own dead

Q: What did Jesus mean when He said, "Let the dead bury their own dead"?

A: Thank you for your question. This response must have baffled the disciples at the time. Jesus’ response was a mixture of the spiritual and physical. In Matthew 8:21-22, we read, “Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”” If you were to rewrite verse 22, it might say something like, “But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.”” We don’t often think about those who are alive as being dead, but in the context of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation, acknowledging that fact is essential. The entire reason for Jesus Christ coming to the world was to give us life, the life of God. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).” Too often this verse is used to support the false belief that Jesus wants Christians living their lives to the fullest in the flesh. When, in fact, it is a salvation passage where Jesus is offering to restore the life of God, lost in Adam, to all who place saving faith in Him.

In order for this to make sense you have to know what is the problem between man and God that Jesus came to fix. In Genesis 2:7, it says, “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God breathed His very life into Adam and Adam became alive to God. God then warned Adam that he “must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:17).” We know that Adam disobeyed God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6). We also know that Adam lived to be 930 years old (Genesis 5:5). So, what kind of death did Adam suffer when he ate the forbidden fruit? Adam suffered a spiritual death. In other words, the life of God breathed into Adam at creation (Genesis 2:7) was removed. How does this affect us and relate to the question you have asked? Adam and Eve did not have any children prior to eating the forbidden fruit. Genesis 5:3 says, “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.” Therefore, all their children and, subsequently, all mankind is born into this world in the image of Adam, spiritually dead to God in sin.

God, in His love, desired to restore His life to man the way it was at the beginning. However, before He could do that He had to deal with the sin problem that caused Him to remove His life from Adam in the Garden of Eden. Otherwise, we would just keep on spiritually dying every time we sinned after receiving His life. This is where Jesus Christ comes into the picture. Jesus, being God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23), was the only man born into this world with a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. That is why John the Baptist pronounced, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)!” Later the Apostle John wrote, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).” The death of Jesus Christ took away the sins of the world from the eyes of God because His death satisfied God for eternity. Now, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God can offer His life once again, as a free gift, to all who accept Jesus Christ by faith. And because of the death of Jesus, there is now no sin that can cause God to remove His life again. That is why the life a Christian has is an eternal life. It is a life that will carry us through this world, past death and on into eternity.

Therefore, when Jesus said to “let the dead bury their own dead, “He wanted to call attention to the spiritual condition of man and the provision God was offering in Him that addresses that problem. The Apostle Paul wrote that, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).” Why are you still in your sins? You are still in your sins because you are nothing more than a forgiven, spiritually dead person who doesn’t have the life of God indwelling them. You are not saved. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God and Jesus Christ is the only one who offers you that life because He is alive and indwells all those who have accepted Him by faith. His death took away your sins so His resurrection could restore the life of God to you. “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins (Colossians 2:13).” You were spiritually dead to God in your sins before accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. And now God has made you alive with Christ because the life He gave you will never leave because He forgave all your sins. Grace and Peace.