{"id":527,"date":"2015-01-09T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=527"},"modified":"2014-12-12T23:33:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T23:33:45","slug":"matthew-818-22-the-cost-of-following-jesus-historical-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/01\/matthew-818-22-the-cost-of-following-jesus-historical-backgrounds.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 8:18-22; The Cost of Following Jesus (Historical Backgrounds)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLord, first let me go bury my father,\u201d a disciple said to Jesus, asking to defer his commitment as a follower of Christ. There were three historical circumstances that could have prompted that request:<\/p>\n

1) The man\u2019s father had just passed away, and so the disciple needed to take a short break to attend to the funeral<\/em>. It was highly unlikely this was the case, though. Dr. Lawrence Richards informs us that, \u201cJewish burial customs involved the disposal of the corpse immediately upon death. If the father had died, the young man already would have been on the way to the tomb with the corpse.\u201d Instead, Scripture indicates he was hanging around here, having a conversation about discipleship with Jesus and a teacher of the law. The context suggest that his request about burying his father was actually a response to Jesus\u2019 statement to the teacher of the law about the cost of discipleship (Matthew 8:18-20).<\/p>\n

2) The man\u2019s father had passed away within the past year.<\/em> In Jewish society, it was the responsibility of the oldest son to handle his father\u2019s burial. Craig Keener reveals that, \u201cThe initial burial took place shortly after a person\u2019s decease\u2026[and] a year after the first burial, after the flesh had rotted off the bones, the son would return to rebury the bones in a special box in a slot in the tomb\u2019s wall. The son in this narrative could thus be asking for as much as a year\u2019s delay.\u201d This is more probable than the first option, but again unlikely. Since Matthew identifies this man as \u201canother disciple,\u201d his leaving to perform a second burial of his father would’ve meant the man was reneging on his previous, solemn oath\u00a0to follow Christ in order to perform a chore any other member of his family could have handled.<\/p>\n

3) The man\u2019s father had not yet died<\/em>. This is the commonly-held view among most Bible historians. The man wanted to take an indefinite leave from following Jesus so that he\u2019d be present to claim an inheritance at the time of his father\u2019s death\u2014whenever that might be. Being in charge of the burial of his father would have ensured that he received his father\u2019s estate. Maybe he reasoned this kind of \u201ctime-out\u201d from commitment right now would give him greater resources to use in future service to Christ\u2019s ministry. Or maybe he just didn\u2019t want to give up his inheritance in order to follow some itinerant preacher. We\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the exact situation, we do know this: Jesus took no circumstance as an excuse to postpone dedicating one\u2019s life him\u2014and he demanded nothing less than total commitment from all of his disciples.<\/p>\n

This was a hard truth to face, and it\u2019s one we must still wrestle with today\u2014and every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[BAH, 275; BBC, 68; IBC, 1130]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n

About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLord, first let me go bury my father,\u201d a disciple said to Jesus, asking to defer his commitment as a follower of Christ. 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