Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Each time I return back to ministry in the US from India, my mother and go through a grieving process. That actual moment when I walk out the house with my aged mother standing at the gate and blowing kisses is the most gut-wrenching moment that we relive each time I leave home. That last glimpse, that last kiss, that last tear-drop as the taxi pulls away – words cannot capture the sentiments. At that moment, my life splits into two halves – my love and devotion to my mother and my commitment to my priestly calling, each separated by nine-thousand miles.
This time, before I left home, my mother said to me, “Son, this is not difficult for us! We have been doing this since you were 17. I gave you to God then and I am giving you to God again!” My mother and I understand the implications of ‘putting our hands on the plough’ and not looking back. In reality, the grief that we both endure is the implication of keeping our hands on the plough.
In today’s scripture readings, we have parallel stories of people from two different millennia. In the first reading, the young Elisha is called by the prophet Elijah to follow him literally as he had his hands on the plough. Elisha consented, but sought Elijah’s permission to bid his family goodbye. Elijah conceded. Elisha then offered a sacrifice of the animals he used for farming using the ploughs to make the fire for the sacrifice. He bid his family adieu and followed Elijah. It is a gut-wrenching story.
We find a similar stories in today’s gospel reading. Jesus called someone to follow him. The person consented. But when he asked Jesus to allow him to bury his father, Jesus refused to make the concession. Instead, he said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” To another man who wished to bid farewell to his family before he followed Jesus, he said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.’ In both instances, Jesus refused to make the concession that Elijah made to Elisha.
How do we understand today’s scripture readings? Let me offer three points for reflection.
What it takes to Follow Jesus
Jesus’ refusal to allow the man to “bury his father,” or “looking back after putting the hand on the plough,” must be understood as a two-pronged conversation. On the one hand, perhaps, Jesus was talking to himself. Jesus himself had set his hand on the plough (read ‘the cross’); he has set his face toward Jerusalem (read ‘calvary’). Many times he would be tempted to avoid his passion and death. But he must “leave the dead to bury the dead,” and move on toward the path of life that his Father had set for him.
On the other hand, Jesus was also talking to his disciples. For the disciples to discover their identity in Jesus, they will have put their hands on the plough and not look back. They will have to leave themselves behind and not look back.
Today, Jesus is talking to us. Do we have what it takes to follow Jesus? Let us reflect on this in the second and third points.
Let the Dead Bury the Dead
It is in the above context that we must understand Jesus’ saying, “Let the dead bury the dead.” There are as many interpretations of this saying as there are commentaries. The interpretations range from simple ones such as, “those who follow Jesus have new life and those who don’t are spiritually dead,” or “let the (spiritually) dead bury the (physically) dead.” But perhaps Jesus was making a reference to the very familiar Jewish practice of the “second-burial.”
The “second burial” referred to the practice where after the first burial, the family waited for the body to decompose. This would probably take up to a year. When the body was decomposed, the oldest son would collect the bones, put them in an ossuary. On that day, the son mourned, but the following day he was glad, because his forebears rested from judgment. In light of this final interpretation, the man to whom Jesus refused the concession to bury the dead was awaiting his father’s second burial. He wanted to wait before he followed Jesus.
Understood this way, this passage is a commentary on human nature. We are often always inclined to postpone the inevitable. Just think how many times we postpone paying bills, cleaning up the house, finishing homework or complete writing a research paper, getting a health check-up, straightening up a broken relationship, recovering from an addiction, going to the sacrament of reconciliation, or even picking up our prayer life. The same can happen when it comes to following Jesus. The same can also happen when it comes to preparing for eternity. There is always a reason to wait. There is always another day.
I have a bumper sticker in my bible that says, “Those who wait for the eleventh hour die at ten-thirty.” So many people die before they have accomplished what they wanted to accomplish. Imagine dying before throwing our weight completely behind Jesus. Imagine that you always wanted to be Jesus’ radical disciple and died without ever accomplishing that. I think that Jesus is saying that the time to radically follow Jesus is NOW! Let these dead people bury those other dead who postpone hearing God’s call. But you, yes, you who want to follow Jesus, do it NOW.
Unless We Transcend the Self
In this third point, I will try to bring my first point and second point together. Paul says to us in today’s second reading, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” The context of Paul’s statement is the Law. Paul was saying that it was not necessary to be circumcised or to submit oneself to the law of circumcision in order to experience the grace of God. God’s grace and spirit are not dependent on anything. All one needs is faith in Jesus Christ. But it is the verses right after this statement that are truly enlightening. Paul continues. “For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus earlier had said that the whole law in fulfilled in two commandments: “Love God with all your heart,” and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
In other words, freedom comes from transcending your ‘self.’ Freedom comes when we have transcended the ‘self’ to love God and our neighbor beyond our self. Unless we transcend the ‘self’, we will keep putting our hands on the plough and look back. Unless we transcend the ‘self’ we will never be radical disciples. Unless we transcend the ‘self,’ we will be the dead burying the dead. Unless we transcend our self, we may be satisfied with ‘religion’ but never pursue radical discipleship.
Perhaps, my mother and I are in the school of discipleship. We are learning to transcend the self. We are learning to keep our hands on the plough. We are learning to not look back. It is gut-wrenching, but it is the cost of discipleship.
- Fr. Satish Joseph