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Matthew 8 · a question people ask

Jesus said, "leave the dead to bury their own dead" (8:22). What did he mean?

In the text

Matthew gives the man's words and Jesus's answer, and doesn't explain them. "Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”" (8:21). "But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”" (8:22). Matthew doesn't say whether the man's father had already died, or what the man did next, and these notes don't say either, or explain the saying beyond its words.

The verses

“Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.””
Matthew 8:21-22 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Matthew 8

Matthew 8: Just say the word

The only time Matthew says Jesus marveled (8:10) is when he heard a centurion who told him, "Just say the word" (8:8); and when evening came Jesus "cast out the spirits with a word" (8:16), the same Greek word. And Matthew's first "Son of Man" is in Jesus's own words: "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (8:20).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions