Matius 8:22

8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ¹ 

Matius 11:18

11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ² 

Matius 12:26

12:26 So if ³  Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

Matius 15:20

15:20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” ⁴ 

[8:22]  ¹ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to follow Jesus.

[11:18]  ² sn John the Baptist was too separatist and ascetic for some, and so he was accused of not being directed by God, but by a demon.

[12:26]  ³ tn This first class condition, the first of three “if” clauses in the following verses, presents the example vividly as if it were so. In fact, all three conditions in these verses are first class. The examples are made totally parallel. The expected answer is that Satan’s kingdom will not stand, so the suggestion makes no sense. Satan would not seek to heal.

[15:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”