When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”
— Matthew 8:18-22
It took me a while to grasp the meaning behind today’s Gospel. At first glance, we could be shocked by how harsh Jesus seems, telling one of his disciples that he should follow Him instead of going to bury his dead father.
This passage might make us think that Jesus is not being loving or kind, but that’s not really what’s happening here. Instead, we are presented with the harsh reality of being a disciple of Christ. Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat this: first, He tells the scribe that following Him will mean extreme physical discomfort. Then, He tells His disciple to forgo even something as important as burying a loved one, signaling the need to make painful sacrifices and to prioritize the Kingdom of God.
The point is that discipleship to Christ demands sacrifice and it requires a radical commitment to God, and to prioritize, above all, the things of Heaven.
This Gospel serves to warn us not to expect an easy road, but to prepare beforehand for the crosses that we’ll surely have to bear as we walk the path of righteousness and seek to climb upwards, towards Heaven.
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Putting Christ first above all things. He must be the head of our lives.
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