“He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
– Luke 9:59-62
![]() Don’t give up reading something that bothers you. I promise you, if you read the Bible, you’re going to find bits that annoy you. But you have to remember, it is a three thousand year old book, with a thousand years of context on three continents in three languages. So there is going to be stuff in there that either doesn’t make any sense, and that just means it’s for later. The whole book of Numbers is boring, all right? It doesn’t mean it’s not the Word of God, but some stuff is boring. One example is this: A man says, “I want to follow you, Jesus. Let me just go bury my dad and then I’ll come follow you.” And Jesus replies, “Nope, sorry, no time for that.” That would take easily two hours. Because again, it’s a context. In those days, to say let me go bury my father means, in that context meant I want to wait until my dad dies so I can inherit his money. So give me a few years. He’s really old, he’s almost there. So you see why Jesus is like no, I don’t want you to follow me. The point is that you’re going to read things in the Bible that bother you, but don’t let that ruin what’s here. In this example, you’ll find that Jesus telling that man not to follow Him was a very good thing. You have to choose the Lord or money. Which one is it? See, it’s beautiful. |
Prayer
Thank you, God, for your beautifully complex Word. Help us to truly understand the context of the Bible.
Reflection
Have you ever been bothered by a part of the Bible?