But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Christ does not condemn burial itself, that would be shameful and cruel, but he means that whatever holds us back from obedience to God deserves no name but death. Only those who devote every thought and action to obeying Him truly live; the rest, absorbed in the world and in pleasing men, are like corpses uselessly tending corpses.
AI summary
Here is, I. Christ's removing to the other side of the sea of Tiberias, and his ordering his disciples, whose boats attended him, to get their transport-vessels ready, in order to it, Mat 8:18. The influences of this Sun of righteousness were not to be confined to one place, but diffused all the country over; he must go about to do good; the necessities of...
Commenting on Matthew 8:18-22
And when he was entered into a ship,.... Which was got ready by his disciples, or hired by them for his use, according to the directions he had given, his disciples followed him into the ship, and they only; for as for the men hereafter mentioned, they were the men that belonged to the ship, and had the management of it: the multitude were dismissed...