Gordon Franza <\/b><\/p>\n
There are two incidents recorded in the Gospels when a disciple requested a \u201cleave of absence\u201d in order to \u201cbury\u201d his father (Mt 8:21\u201322; Lk 9:59\u201360). Although the requests appear reasonable, Jesus gave a seemingly harsh reply in each case: \u201cFollow Me, let the dead bury their own dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
This statement is often considered a \u201chard saying\u201d of Jesus (Bruce 1983:161\u2013163). Some critical scholars suggest that Jesus was encouraging His disciples to break the fifth commandment (honor your father and mother) by not giving their fathers a proper burial (Sanders 1985:252\u2013255). Is He really demanding this? Most commentators suggest Jesus meant, \u201cLeave the (spiritual) dead to bury the (physical) dead\u201d (Fitzmyer 1981:836; Liefeld 1984:935). This interpretation, though common (Fitzmyer calls it the \u201cmajority interpretation\u201d), is not consistent with the text and with Jewish \u2018burial practices of the first century AD.<\/p>\n
Problems With the \u201cMajority Interpretation\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Byron McCane, of Duke University, points out three problems with the \u201cmajority interpretation\u201d (hereafter MI; 1990:38\u201339). First, it does not give an adequate explanation of the disciples\u2019 request, \u201cLet me first go and bury my father.\u201d The MI sees the request as a conflict of loyalties between the disciples\u2019 responsibilities to their dead fathers and their commitment to follow Jesus. This minimizes the importance of the adverb \u201cfirst.\u201d In each case, a disciple was requesting time to fulfill his family obligation regarding the burial of his father. Once this was discharged, the disciple would return and follow Jesus. Thus the MI does not explain the disciples\u2019 request for time<\/p>\n
Secondly, those who follow the MI generally omit the words \u201ctheir own dead,\u201d because they want to distinguish between two meanings of the word \u201cdead.\u201d \u201cLet the spiritually<\/i> dead bury the physically<\/i> dead.\u201d However, the text says, \u201ctheir own<\/i> dead,\u201d indicating that both occurrences of \u201cdead\u201d are connected in a reflexive possessive relation. There is no need to spiritualize the text regarding the dead; both are physically dead!<\/p>\n
Finally, the MI goes against first-century Jewish burial customs. In the first century, when a person died, they normally were taken and buried immediately in the family burial cave which <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:2 (Spring 1992) p. 55<\/p>\n
had been hewn out of the bedrock.1 This custom is based on the injunction found in the Mosaic Law, not to leave the corpse of an executed person on a tree overnight (Dt 21:22\u201323). Two examples of immediate burial are found in the New Testament: Jesus (Jn 19:31) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:6\u201310).<\/p>\n
Immediately after the burial, the family would separate itself and mourn for seven days. This mourning period was called shiv\u2019ah<\/i>. It would have been impossible for the disciples to make their request if their fathers had just died. If they were eldest sons, they were obligated by custom to immediately bury their fathers. If the MI is correct, the disciples would have been acting contrary to normal first-century Jewish burial practices.<\/p>\n
An Interpretation Based on First-Century Jewish Burial Practices<\/b><\/p>\n
McCane suggests an interpretation which is consistent with first-century Jewish burial practices (1990:40\u201341). After a body was placed in a burial cave, it was left to decompose. The family mourned for seven days. This initial mourning period was followed by a less intense 30-day period of mourning, called shloshim<\/i>. However, the entire mourning period was not fully over until the flesh of the deceased had decomposed, usually about a year later. The Jerusalem Talmud states,<\/p>\n
When the flesh had wasted away, the bones were collected and placed in chests (ossuaries). On that day (the son) mourned, but the following day he was glad, because his forebears rested from judgment (Moed Qatan<\/i> 1:5).<\/p>\n
This final act of mourning, the gathering of the bones into a bone box called an ossuary, was called \u201cossilegium,\u201d or \u201csecondary burial.\u201d It is this act, I believe, that is in view in our Lord\u2019s response.2 The disciples\u2019 request and Jesus\u2019 response make good sense in light of the Jewish custom of secondary burial. When the disciples requested time to buy their fathers they were actually asking for time to finish the ritual of secondary burial. Their fathers had died, been placed in the family burial cave, and the sons had sat shiv\u2019ah<\/i> and most likely also shloshim<\/i>. They then requested anywhere from a few weeks to up to 11 months to finish the ritual of ossilegium before they returned to Jesus.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 sharp answer also fits well with secondary burial. The fathers had been buried in the family burial caves and their bodies were slowly decomposing. In the tombs, along with the fathers, were other family members who had died, some awaiting secondary burial, others already placed in ossuaries. When Jesus stated \u201cLet the dead bury their own dead,\u201d He was referring to the two different kinds of dead in the tombs: the bones of the deceased which had already been neatly placed in the ossuaries and the fathers who has yet to be reburied. The little phrase \u201cown dead\u201d indicates that the fathers were included among the dead.<\/p>\n
The Setting of this Saying<\/b><\/p>\n
The Gospels record two incidents where disciples approached the Lord to request a \u201cleave of absence\u201d from following Him. The first is recorded in Matthew 8. Jesus was about to take the Twelve across the Sea of Galilee to the Decapolis city of Gadara. Chronologically, this trip is the first recorded journey <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:2 (Spring 1992) p. 56<\/p>\n
Ossuaries in the Caiaphas family tomb, accidently discovered in a park just south of the Old City of Jerusalem in December 1990 (see Archaeology and Biblical Research, Winter 1992, p. 32, for more details). The partial remains of 63 people were found in the tomb<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
of Jesus to minister in Gentile territory. One of His disciples hesitated, probably because he did not want to go to those unclean, non-kosher people.<\/p>\n
So he made an excuse, \u201cLet me first go and bury my father.\u201d He most likely appealed to the Jewish burial practice of ossilegium, or secondary burial, which would remove him from following the Lord for up to 11 months. Jesus saw this as an excuse not to minister to the Gentiles. As a result He rebuked him with a statement of irony and challenged the disciple to follow Him. Quite possibly this was Peter, because he is known to have had a problem associating with Gentiles (Acts 10:9\u201322; Gal 2:11\u201321).<\/p>\n
The second incident is recorded in Luke 9:59\u201360. Another disciple, possibly one of the 70 (Lk 10:1, 17) was going to Jerusalem with Jesus for the Feast of Succoth (Tabernacles) during the fall of AD 29. He asked to be excused for the same reason. It may be that this disciple was taking advantage of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to rebury the bones of his father in the Holy City (cf. Meyers 1971\u201372:98, 99; Avigad 1962). If so, Jesus felt it was more pressing for him to go with the 70 to Perea than to rebury the bones of his father in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
In each case, the father had died more than a month prior and the Lord rebuked the disciple with the same stern statement.<\/p>\n
The Reason for Jesus\u2019 Response<\/b><\/p>\n
Why would Jesus respond in a seemingly harsh manner? The purpose of His response may have been twofold. First, to encourage the disciples to faithfully follow Him. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, to teach correct theology.<\/p>\n
The concept of gathering the bones of one\u2019s ancestors is deeply embedded in the Hebrew Scriptures and reflected in <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:2 (Spring 1992) p. 57<\/p>\n
Iron Age burial practices (Gn 49:29; Jgs 2:10; 16:31; 1 Kgs 11:21, 43, etc.). However, by New Testament times, the concept had taken on a new meaning. According to the Rabbinic sources, the decomposition of the flesh atoned for the sins of the dead person (a kind of purgatory) and the final stage of this process was gathering the bones and placing them in an ossuary (Meyers 1971:80\u201385). Jesus confronted this contrary theology. Only faith in Christ\u2019s redemptive work on the cross can atone for sin, not rotting flesh or any other work or merit of our own (Heb 9:22, 26; Acts 4:12; Eph 2:8\u20139). Jesus may have rebuked these two disciples rather harshly because they were following the corrupt Jewish practice of secondary burial.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n
An amplified (interpretive) rendering of this statement might be, Look, you have already honored your father by giving him a proper burial in the family sepulcher. Now, instead of waiting for the flesh to decompose, which can never atone for sin, go and preach the Kingdom of God and tell of the only true means of atonement, faith alone in Christ. Let the bones of your dead father\u2019s ancestors gather his bones and place them in an ossuary. You follow me!<\/i> This interpretation allows for Jesus to have upheld the fifth commandment, takes the text at face value, and does justice to the Jewish burial practices of the first century. The interpretation is therefore consistent theologically, Biblically, and historically, and answers the critics accurately.<\/p>\n
Ossuary of Joseph of the family of Caiaphas, the high priest who interregated Jesus before He was handed over to Pilate. This is one of the most beautifully decorated ossuaries ever discovered, indicating the importance of Joseph bar Caiaphus, whose name is twice inscribed on it. The partial remains of six individuals were found in the ossuary, including those of a male approximately 60 years old, probably the high priest himself<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 5:2 (Spring 1992) p. 58<\/p>\n
Bibliography<\/b><\/p>\n
Avigad, N.<\/p>\n
1962 A Depository of Inscribed Ossuaries in the Kidron Valley, Israel Exploration Journal<\/i> 12:1\u201312.<\/p>\n
Bruce, F.<\/p>\n
1983 The Hard Sayings of Jesus<\/i> (Downers Grove IL: IVP).<\/p>\n
Fitzmyer, J.<\/p>\n
1981 The Anchor Bible. The Gospel According to Luke I-IX<\/i> (New York: Doubleday).<\/p>\n
Liefeld, W.<\/p>\n
1984 Luke, The Expositor\u2019s Bible Commentary<\/i>, Vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan).<\/p>\n
McCane, B.<\/p>\n
1990 \u201cLet the Dead Bury Their Own Dead\u201d: Secondary Burial and Matt 8:21\u201322. Harvard Theological Review<\/i> 83:31\u201343.<\/p>\n
Meyers, E.<\/p>\n
1971 Jewish Ossuaries: Reburial and Rebirth<\/i> (Rome: Biblical Institute).<\/p>\n
1971\u201372 The Theological Implications of an Ancient Jewish Burial Custom. Jewish Quarterly Review<\/i> 62:95\u2013119.<\/p>\n
Rahmani, L.<\/p>\n
1958 A Jewish Tomb on Shahin Hill, Jerusalem. Israel Exploration Journal<\/i> 8:101\u2013105.<\/p>\n
1961 Jewish Rock-Cut Tombs in Jerusalem. \u2018Atiqot<\/i> 3:93\u2013120.<\/p>\n
1981 Ancient Jerusalem\u2019s Funerary Customs and Tombs – Part One. Biblical Archaeologist<\/i> 44:171\u2013177.<\/p>\n
1982a Ancient Jerusalem\u2019s Funerary Customs and Tombs – Part Three. Biblical Archaeologist<\/i> 45:43\u201353.<\/p>\n
1982b Ancient Jerusalem\u2019s Funerary Customs and Tombs – Part Four. Biblical Archaeologist<\/i> 45:109\u2013119.<\/p>\n
Sanders, E.<\/p>\n
1985 Jesus and Judaism<\/i> (Philadelphia: Fortress).<\/p>\n
Zlotnick, D.<\/p>\n
1966 The Tractate \u201cMourning\u201d (Semahot). Regulations Relating to Death, Burial, and Mourning<\/i> (New Haven: Yale University).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gordon Franza There are two incidents recorded in the Gospels when a disciple requested a \u201cleave of absence\u201d in order to \u201cbury\u201d his father (Mt 8:21\u201322; Lk 9:59\u201360). Although the requests appear reasonable, Jesus gave a seemingly harsh reply in each case: \u201cFollow Me, let the dead bury their own dead.\u201d This statement is often … Continue reading “LET
\nTHE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD
\n(MATTHEW 8:22; LUKE 9:60)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}