ix. 59.) This call was a great mercy and favor on the part of God, and yet the disciple wished not to accept of it without making his own conditions. He wished first to bury his father who was dying, or, as others explain the passage, he wished to take care of him until he died, and then enter seriously into the service of God. Thus, many wish to serve God, but according to their own ideas, and after they have gained some desired object in the world, enjoyed some of its pleasures, or gratified some favorite feeling. After this is accomplished, when life can no longer be coupled with pleasure, they are willing to surrender their old age to God, to virtue and religion. How often are such characters disappointed!
II. Our Lord answered, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." Thus He teaches us to prefer God to our parents, friends and kindred. He does not forbid us to love them, nor to perform our duty toward them, but He wishes natural affection to be secondary to the Divine service. He wishes His disciples to throw off all carnal affection; and hence He says in another place, " If any man come to Me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters (that is, love them less than the service of God), he cannot be My disciple." (Luke xiv. 26.)
III. Christ calls those dead who live for the world and in sin. There are two kinds of death, one of the body and the other of the soul. The body dies when the soul is separated from it, and the soul dies when it is separated from God by sin. Christ therefore says, let those that are dead to God take care of those that are dead to the world: but do you take care to preserve the life of your soul, lest you fall into sin and be cast off from the
