In the middle of the miracles in Matthew 8 there are two men who approach Jesus wanting to be his disciples. Both of them get unexpected answers. Below is the second man.
verse 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
verse 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Another of the disciples: The first man is a Scribe (a formal Jewish teacher and someone who hand copies the Old Testament). The second is a disciple of Jesus, but it is safe to say he is not one of the twelve.
Lord, let me first go and bury my father: He begins properly by addressing Jesus as he should, and as we should. We should not see Jesus as a buddy or a casual friend. He is God. He is Lord. He is the potter. We are the clay. He is the teacher. We are the student. He is superior. We are inferior.
first: This is probably where the man gets things wrong. Jesus is to be first in all things. This is very hard for us, and very counter-intuitive. To us loving family seems to be the very thing God wants us to do. But Scripture teaches differently. We are to love God first, before family. See Matthew 7:13-14, Luke 9:23, 14:12-24, and Matthew 10:37-39.
Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead: First and foremost, we are followers of Jesus. We deny ourselves and sometimes our family too. Jesus’ last phrase it difficult, but it tells the man what he needs to hear.
Both men see following Jesus in a way that is lighter and easier than they think. Jesus redirects them, and teaches them, and tells them being a Christian is difficult and costly and hard.
Nevertheless, we can be disciples because God has called us, enabled us, and leads us. We can be disciples because we have the Holy Spirit as our helper, Scripture as our guide, prayer as our solace and strength, and the church as our encouragement.
If your reading the book of Romans
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 