Matthew 8:22 (LSB)

Passage

But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

Nearby Context

Matthew 8:20 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Matthew 8:21 And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

Matthew 8:23 And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.

Matthew 8:24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was sleeping.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "said", "follow", "allow", "dead", and "bury". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "And another of the disciples said to..." into verse 23's "And when He got into the boat...", so "jesus" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.